Vice Admiral David L. Brewer III is 35-year veteran of the United States Navy and former superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District in California. The retired three-star admiral worked to develop the Navy College Program helping sailors receive higher education and oversaw the Military Sealift Command’s … Read MoreDavid L. Brewer, III (1946- )
Julius Henry Taylor was an American physicist, scholarly publisher, physics professor, and one of the first African Americans to receive a Ph.D. in physics in the nation. Taylor was born on February 15th, 1914, in Cape May, New Jersey, to his parents Julia Taylor and Coleman Taylor. Taylor grew … Read MoreJulius Henry Taylor (1914-2011)
Former Naval officer Gerald Eustis Thomas served as United States Ambassador to Guyana and Kenya. Born in Natick, Massachusetts on June 23, 1929 to Walter and Leila Thomas, President Ronald W. Reagan appointed Gerald E. Thomas to both ambassadorships. Thomas began his undergraduate studies at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska. He transferred to Harvard University … Read MoreGerald E. Thomas (1929- )
David Satcher, physician, educator, and administrator, was born in Anniston, Alabama, on March 2, 1941 to Wilmer and Anne Satcher. In 1963 Satcher graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He earned a M.D. and Ph.D. in cytogenetics from Case Western Reserve University in 1970. In 1979 Satcher became a professor … Read MoreDavid Satcher (1941- )
Jack Greenberg was a prominent civil rights lawyer, directing the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) for 23 years and arguing crucial cases at the U.S. Supreme Court. He was born in New York City, New York on December 22, 1924 to Jewish immigrant parents Max and Bertha Greenberg. During World War II, … Read MoreJack Greenberg (1924-2016)
Born in Pelham, Georgia, on July 6, 1954, Donnie L. Cochran was one of the nine sons of farmers Isaac C. Cochran and Addie B. Cochran. As a child he was fascinated by planes flying close to his home and became increasingly committed to becoming a pilot and … Read MoreDonnie Lee Cochran (1954- )
Virgil Garnett Trice Jr., a respected chemical engineer and official with the U.S. Department of Energy, was one of only a small number of African Americans who held positions as nuclear scientists in the middle decades of the twentieth century. During a long career in public service, … Read MoreVirgil Garnett Trice, Jr. (1926-1997)
Michelle J. Howard is the first African American woman to command a Navy ship and the first woman of any race to be attain the rank of admiral. Born in Riverside, California on April 30, 1960, Howard was one of four children of Air Force Master … Read MoreMichelle Janine Howard (1960- )
Joseph Paul Reason was the first African American to attain the rank of four-star admiral in the United States Navy. Reason was born March 22, 1941, in Washington, D.C., the son of Howard University librarian and French language professor Joseph Henry Reason, and schoolteacher Bernice … Read MoreJoseph Paul Reason (1941- )
Navy Admiral Cecil Haney was born into a struggling family in “humble surroundings” in Washington, D.C., on December 1, 1955. After graduating from the city’s Eastern High School he left for Annapolis, Maryland, where he was a distinguished midshipman at the United States Naval Academy, … Read MoreCecil Eugene Diggs Haney (1955- )
