COSAM alumnus Samuel Pettijohn, physics
’67, was one of only seven African-American
students when he was enrolled at Auburn
University. A native of Cornelia, Ga., he was the
first African-American undergraduate student to
receive a degree from Auburn, and last January,
in celebration of 50 years of integration, he was
recognized for his culture-changing achievement
during a ceremony hosted by the university.
Commission in 1977, where he remained for
26 years. In 1987, he received a master’s of
engineering science in computer science from
Loyola College, and in 2001, Auburn awarded
him an honorary doctor of science degree.
Over the course of his career, Pettijohn served
in various capacities at the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission and was a senior project manager
when he retired in 2003. His background
is in event analysis related to accidents and
incidents involving commercial and industrial
uses of nuclear material, including the
nuclear fuel cycle, and he was instrumental in
devel oping a database of radiation incidents
and accidents for the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. Prior to his retirement, he
also worked on the development of a similar
database on an international scale.
As Pettijohn looks back at his days as a student
at Auburn, his memories contain a measure of
optimism and resilience in the face of adversity.
“I have been asked a number
of times what it was like to be
one of seven African-American
students at Auburn in the
1960s, and I have given it a
lot of thought. In some ways,
it was not as negative an
experience for us seven as
it probably was for students
who enrolled later. Because
our numbers were so small,
I suspect some students
didn’t even know we were
on campus,” said Pettijohn.
“In the campus environment
there were obviously some
negatives. We didn’t associate
with the other students in
the class, and they wouldn’t
acknowledge us at all outside
of the classroom; or if we sat
at a table in the cafeteria or
library, students would stand
up and leave. But we used it
to our advantage. If the seven
of us wanted to meet and sit
together, we knew we could
easily clear a table. If one of us
sat down, we knew no one else
would sit there.”
Since 2007, Pettijohn has served as the
principal of Pilgrim Christian Day School, a
role he accepted on a temporary basis but has
become a second career. Pilgrim Christian
Day School, located in Baltimore, Md., serves
children in pre-kindergarten through fifth
grade.
Pettijohn’s route to an Auburn University degree
did not begin at Auburn. After high school, he
enrolled in engineering at Tuskegee University,
but when Tuskegee decided to begin a physics
curriculum, he changed his major.
“Physics was something that appealed to me,” he
said, “so I quickly changed. Unfortunately, the
program didn’t last long.”
For reasons that remain unclear to Pettijohn,
Tuskegee’s fledgling physics program began to
founder. With the program near termination, a
Tuskegee professor contacted Auburn physics
professor Raymond Askew and made arrangements
for Pettijohn to continue his education in his
chosen field at Auburn.
“Originally, what I was told was that I would
continue to be officially enrolled at Tuskegee and
just attend the classes at Auburn,” Pettijohn said.
“And that’s the way it was the first term. But, after
that first term, I was told I would have to enroll at
Auburn.”
Pettijohn, along with the other six AfricanAmerican students enrolled at Auburn, lived in
Magnolia Hall, and became fast friends.
“I still cherish those friends and, largely because
of them and because of professors like Dr. Askew
and Dr. Howard Carr (the head of the physics
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Journey/2014
department at the time), my memories of Auburn
are pleasant ones,” said Pettijohn.
Pettijohn said his degree from Auburn helped him
tremendously in his career, beginning in the first
four years after graduation as he served in the U.S.
Army.
“At the time in the late 60s, having a technical
degree was a very good thing – it’s still a very
good thing. It made a lot of difference for me, and
probably even more so because there were fewer
African-Americans with engineering science
degrees,” said Pettijohn. “I went into the Army
six months after I graduated because I was in
ROTC. I started ROTC at Tuskegee University
and completed my assignment at Auburn, and was
commissioned after I graduated. I was actually the
first African-American to complete the ROTC
program at Auburn as well.”
Pettijohn was in the Army Corps of Engineers
when he served time in Germany and Vietnam.
He received a Bronze Star and an Army
Commendation Medal for his service in combat
support in Vietnam. He was then assigned to the
Defense Nuclear Weapons School in Albuquerque,
N.M., with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Following his military service, he worked with
several private companies and NASA before
taking a position with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
“Overall, since I have spoken to people on
different occasions at Auburn, most recently
this past January when they had their
celebration of 50 years of integration, I always
wonder what the environment is like for
students now – are they in college learning
and enjoying what they are doing? My college
experience wasn’t really that great as the
outside things distracted from the education,
but it wasn’t that negative either, because l
could always see the overall objective,” said
Pettijohn.
“What the experience really taught me is how
much talent was probably lost because we
couldn’t treat people fairly. It’s just a total waste
when you think about it. And even today, how
many kids won’t go into physics or some other
area because they are made to believe they
can’t do something. I say all this because one
of the real blessings I have from working in
an elementary school is it makes me aware of
my responsibility to help all of the children I
work with and make sure they know they need
to go out and do the best that they can with
the talents they have and not be hindered by
people telling them they can’t do something.
I spent most of my life listening to people tell
me I can’t do things, and I want them to work
past it.”
Pettijohn and his wife, Ann, live in Owings
Mills, Md., and have two adult sons: Shannon
and Christopher.
College of Sciences and Mathematics
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