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Latanya Hammonds-Odie knew from an early age that she would impact others. It was a family tradition.

“I’m a third-generation college graduate. Sometimes I joke that I had to get a Ph.D. because that’s the only way I could have done better than my parents and grandmothers,” said Hammonds-Odie, a professor of biology at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC). 

Hammonds-Odie grew up in the Chicago area. Her father was a minister and her mother worked for the Chicago Housing Authority and in public aid. Not only did her mother have a master’s degree in social work, but both of her grandmothers earned college degrees and were teachers. One had two master’s degrees.

“I had a lot of strong, black female role models,” said Hammonds-Odie. “I know I was fortunate. Very few of my students have that.”

At seven, she wanted to be a pediatrician, though she didn’t know what pediatricians did. She just knew she wanted to do something in science.

“When I went to college, it didn’t take long to realize I didn’t want to go into medicine. That’s what led me to major in biochemistry.”

Hammonds-Odie earned a biochemistry degree at Spelman College. From there, she earned a master’s in pharmacology and a doctorate in cell biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She joined the GGC faculty in 2009.

Since then, Hammonds-Odie has made it her mission to show GGC students – particularly the disadvantaged and those in groups historically excluded from science – the joys and challenges of science. 

“What drew me to GGC was the diversity of its student population, and its access mission and small class sizes,” she said.

According to the National Science Foundation (NSF), underrepresentation is an obstacle to development and employment of diverse workers needed to help maintain the nation’s global competitiveness in STEM fields. The NSF’s most recent study showed a smaller percentage of Hispanic, Latino, Black and African American workers in STEM compared to their overall representation in the U.S. workforce.

Hammonds-Odie works to improve those numbers by getting close to students who wouldn’t normally have interests in biology and drawing them to an appreciation for it.

“I teach a general biology course on HIV and AIDS to non-science majors, which is an interesting topic because Atlanta is a hot spot for AIDS, and these kids know nothing about it,” she said. “I try to encourage scientific literacy, information literacy and critical thinking about ethical and scientific matters. I hope to lower perceived barriers because many students had experiences in high school that turned them off on science.”

Hammonds-Odie was recently named a Fellow of the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB). The ASCB’s mission includes advancing scientific discovery, advocating sound research policies, improving education, promoting professional development, and increasing diversity in the scientific workforce.

Through the ASCB, Hammonds-Odie also helps underrepresented postdoctoral scientists and faculty for minority-serving institutions as a director for the Faculty Research Education Development program (FRED), a year-long program pairing postdocs and faculty with more experienced scientists. The scientists mentor the postdocs and faculty on grant applications.

“In the sciences, if you don’t have money, you cannot do your research,” she said. “Sixty-two percent of our FRED mentees have been funded, and the average National Institutes of Health/National Science Foundation funding success rate is about 10 percent.”

It’s easy to believe Hammonds-Odie’s parents and grandmothers would be proud of all the young people she’s helped as a teacher, mentor and ASCB member. 

“I try to make a difference by giving people a little guidance like I got along the way,” she said. “If I can serve as an example and help young people find the right path, then I’m continuing a proud legacy, and there’s nothing more fulfilling than that.”