Ruth Ella Moore, PhD
Dr. Ruth Ella Moore (May 19, 1903 – July 19, 1994) was an African-American bacteriologist and the first African-American woman to receive a PhD in natural sciences. Born in Ohio, Dr. Moore was raised by parents who both held secondary degrees. She obtained a BA (1926), and MS (1927), and PhD in Bacteriology (1933) from […]
Elbert F. Cox, PhD
Dr. Elbert Frank Cox (December 5,1985 – November 28,1969) was an African-American mathematician and physicist, specializing in Euclidean mathematics, and the first Black person to acquire a PhD in mathematics in both the US and the world. Born and raised in Evansville, Indiana, he was raised in a segregated town. A prodigy in mathematics growing […]
Moses Williams
Moses Williams (1777- 1825) was a African-American artist and the first known black American ornithologist. Williams was born to slave parents that were freed after the age of 28, however, since he was still a teenager, he had to remain enslaved to the family of Charles Willson Peale until he hit 28 years old. Peale […]
Hildrus Poindexter, MD, MPH, PhD, DSc
Dr. Hildrus Augustus Poindexter (May 10,1901- April 21, 1987) was an African-American bacteriologist, epidemiologist, and expert on tropical diseases. Born to formerly enslaved parents and the 6th of 11 children, he grew up poor and in a rural area which would influence his decision to enter the natural sciences. He obtained his BA (1924) cum […]
Margaret S. Collins, PhD
Dr. Margaret James Strickland Collins (September 4, 1922- April 27, 1996) was an entomologist, civil rights activist, and the first formally trained black female entomologist in the United States. Born and raised in Institute, West Virginia, she was a prodigious scholar at a young age and her father was a former colleague of George Washington […]
Thomas Wyatt Turner, PhD
Dr. Thomas Wyatt Turner (March 16, 1877 – April 27,1978) was an agricultural botanist, the first African-American to earn a PhD in Botany, and the first African-American to earn a PhD at Cornell University. Born to sharecropper parents in Hughesville, Maryland, he attended a Episcopal preparatory schools since catholic schools would not admit him. He […]
Garrett A Morgan
Garrett Augustus Morgan Sr. (March 4, 1887 – August 27, 1963) was an African-American inventor, activist, publisher, and entrepreneur whose inventions saved thousands of lives. Born and raised in Paris, Kentucky as the only child of freed slaves, Morgan realized his passion for mechanics early in life. Having only received a sixth grade education, he […]
Dr. Vivien T. Thomas, LL.D.
Dr. Vivien Theodore Thomas (August 29, 1910 – November 26, 1985) was a surgical technician who developed multiple operations used to treat severe vascular and cardiac injury today. Born in Louisiana in 1910, and grandson of a slave, he attended Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial college as a premed student where he was forced to drop […]
Dr. William Augustus Hinton
Dr. Wiliam Augustus Hinton (December 15, 1883 – August 8, 1959) was a bacteriologist and the first Black Professor at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School. Born in Chicago to formerly enslaved parents, he grew up in Kansas City. He started his academic career at the University of Kansas before transferring to Harvard, and earned […]
Dr. Charles Drew
Dr. Charles Drew (June 3, 1904 – April 1, 1950) was a surgeon and was the pioneer responsible for blood banking. Born in Washington, D.C., Dr. Drew was a student athlete, and one of thirteen black students, who attended Amherst College, obtaining a BA (1926). After taking a biology course, he was inspired to pursue […]