Alonzo Atencio, PhD
Dr. Alonzo Atencio was known as the Godfather of Minority Medical Education through his efforts to increase recruitment of diverse scholars and the founding of SACNAS.
Ellen Lauri Ochoa, PhD
Dr. Ellen Ochoa was the first Hispanic woman to go in space and first Hispanic Director at the Johson Space Center.
Ynés Mexia
Ynés Enriquetta Julietta Mexía (1870-1938) was a pioneering botanist and contributed immensely to the field. She was born May 24th, 1870, in Washington D.C., while her father worked as a representative for the Mexican consulate. She moved every few years or so from Texas to Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Mexico until the death of her first […]
Albert Vinicio Baez, PhD
Dr. Albert Vinicio Baez (1912-2007) was a pioneer in x-ray optics, a co-inventor of the x-ray reflection microscope, and advocate for science education. Baez was born in Puebla, Mexico in 1912. His family moved to the United States when he was two. His father worked as a minister at the First Spanish Methodist Church in […]
Major Fernando Emilio Rodríguez Vargas, DDS
Fernando Emilio Rodríguez Vargas was born on February 24th, 1888, in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico and traveled daily to Ponce for his early education. He received his Teaching Certificate at the University of Puerto Rico, before working at the IRS an inspector, and then the US War Department as a translator. He obtained his DDS (1913) […]
Lydia Villa-Komaroff, PhD
Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff was born on August 7, 1947, in Las Vegas but grew up Santa Fe, New Mexico after her parents immigrated to the United States to escape the Mexican Revolution. At a young age, she knew she wanted to be a scientist. Initially she enrolled at University of Washington to study Chemisty, but […]
Severo Ochoa, MD
Severo Ochoa (1905-1993) was a biochemist that was born in Laurca, Spain. His interest in biology was sparked by Spanish Nobel Laureate Santiago Ramón y Cajal through his studies on the structure of the nervous system. He obtained his Medical Degree with honors (1929) from the University of Madrid. During this time he worked on the isolation […]
Anabella Villalobos, PhD
Dr. Anabella Villalobos is a medicinal chemist and currently a Senior Vice President, Biotherapeutics & Medicinal Sciences at Biogen. Born and raised in Panama, she found her spark and excitement for chemistry in a high school organic chemistry class. She obtained her BS (1981) in Chemistry from the University of Panama. She obtained a MS […]
Scarlin Hernandez
Scarlin Hernandez is a Dominican-American astronautical engineer for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. She was born in the Dominican Republic, then moved to Brooklyn, NY at the age of 4. She earned her BS in Computer Engineering from Capitol Technology University (CTU) in Laurel, MD. Her undergraduate studies were funded by a full scholarship from […]
Pedro A. Sanchez, PhD
Dr. Pedro A. Sanchez was born in Cuba and grew to have an immediate attachment to soil as he said he would “play with dirt” when he was younger. As his family owned a fertilizer-blending business they encouraged his pursuits. Pedro obtained a BS (1962), MS, and PhD (1968) in Soil Sciences at Cornell University, […]