She completed her B.S. degree in chemical engineering at Tuskegee University in 1996. She went directly to graduate school and earned an M.S. in chemical engineering practice in 1998 and a Ph.D in chemical engineering from MIT in 2001. Then, she joined the staff of Lucent Technologies Bell Labs, Norcross, GA Division (currently OFS) from 2001-2003. In 2003, she joined the faculty of Tuskegee University as an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering.