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Making his name known in academia

Physics professor Clifford Johnson was cited 65 times in 2004 academic journals.

Diya Chacko

Media Credit: Alicia Anderson | Daily Trojan Adding up. USC physics professor Clifford Johnson is the most cited black mathematician, according to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

Clifford Johnson, professor of physics, is the most highly cited black mathematician - a title that puzzles Johnson.

"Wow, I have no idea where that came from," he said.

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education conducted a citation count of black mathematicians currently teaching mathematics or a related field at American universities and colleges.

Out of the 96 black mathematicians, Johnson was cited the most - 65 times - in academic journals in 2004.

In academia, blacks were thought not to be "capable of the abstract thinking and calculations that were necessary to do important work in mathematic," according to the article from the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

But with a doctorate in physics from Imperial College at London University, Johnson is an expert on recent developments in the theory of superstrings. He has also been a member of the theoretical high-energy physics group at USC since 2003.

"He's very pleasant and energetic," said Krzysztof Pilch, a professor of physics who is also part of the USC theoretical high-energy physics group. "He's got lots of good ideas and is very enthusiastic."

Recently, the UK Institute of Physics awarded Johnson with the 2005 Maxwell Medal and Prize for his contribution to string theory, quantum gravity and its connection with strongly coupled field theory.

"String theory is basically the idea that all elementary particles are made up of different variations of the same 'string' of energy, vibrating at different frequencies," he said. "It's a bit more complicated mathematically, but this theory successfully describes and unites all the forces found in nature, including gravity, which is very hard to do."

Johnson is also involved in follow-up work on four-dimensional black holes.

But physics with Johnson is not all work and no play.

He takes his graduate students on hikes and recently took some of his undergraduate students to see the movie "Proof," starring Gwyneth Paltrow as the daughter of a disturbed mathematician.

"I have a lot of fun with my students at USC," he said. "I hope they do too; I think they're great."

"I really liked him," said Lexi Shiovitz, a sophomore majoring in sociology. "He integrated a somewhat covert sense of witty humor into his lectures, making the two-hour lecture period a lot easier to handle. One day he played a song by the Flaming Lips and showed a clip from the 'Simpsons' in the same class period."

Johnson is trying to raise money for his project, The African Summer Theory Institute, which is a gathering of students, professors and researchers in South Africa to teach and discuss various topics in science and research.

"We had such a great time," he said, as he proudly displayed a framed card that all his ASTI students from 2004 sent to him.

"Hopefully, we can have another one soon," Johnson said. "The 2004 project in Capetown was a real success."

Johnson said that he has faced challenges along the way.

"There've been a lot of challenges, but you do interesting work with good people," Johnson said. "In the end, the people and the work make it all worthwhile."

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