James Daniel Whitfield, a 2002 graduate of Eleanor Roosevelt High School and a 2006 graduate of Morehouse College, in Atlanta, received his doctorate from Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. He completed all requirements for his doctorate in chemical physics by defending his thesis, "At the intersection of quantum computing and quantum chemistry."
In the acknowledgments section of his thesis, James thanked Prince George's County for being a wonderful place to grow up and recognized Michael McRae, his mathematics teacher and mentor at Eleanor Roosevelt High. Whitfield, is currently completing post-doctorate work at Columbia University.