Raye Jean Jordan Montague, a registered professional engineer, was incredibly influential in transforming the field of marine vessel construction. A longtime employee of the U.S. Navy and a leader in its transition to the use of Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM), Montague created the … Read MoreRaye Jean Jordan Montague (1935-2018)
André Pinto Rebouças was a Brazilian engineer and abolitionist, best known for creating one of the world’s first self-propelled torpedoes during the Paraguayan War. Rebouças was born on January 13, 1838 in Cachoeira, Brazil. The son of Antônio Pereira Rebouças, a prominent lawyer and politician and an unidentified black … Read MoreAndré Rebouças (1838-1898)
Charles Ward Chappelle was an American engineer and businessman best known for his award-winning long-distance airplane in 1911 and his tenure as president of the African Union Company from 1913 to 1930. In January of 1911, Chappelle presented at the First Industrial Aero Show, a showcase of aircraft and … Read MoreCharles Chappelle (1872-1941)
In July 1998, Erroll Mingo Brown became the first African American admiral in the United States Coast Guard in its 207-year history. Brown was born in Ocklawaha, Florida. He grew up in St. Petersburg and although he had planned to attend Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, his interest in engineering and … Read MoreErroll M. Brown (1950- )
Jennie R. Patrick became the first African American woman to earn a PhD in chemical engineering when she completed graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1979. Patrick was born in Gadsden, Alabama on January 1, 1949. Her parents only had sixth … Read MoreJennie R. Patrick (1949- )
Benjamin Bradley was the first person to develop a working model of a steam engine for a war ship. Born in Maryland around 1830 Bradley was owned by an unidentified slaveholder in Annapolis, Maryland. While living in Annapolis Bradley worked for a printing company at … Read MoreBenjamin Bradley (1830-?)
Frederick McKinley Jones was a prolific early 20th century black inventor who helped to revolutionize both the cinema and refrigeration industries. Between 1919 and 1945 he patented more than sixty inventions in divergent fields with forty of those patents in refrigeration. He is best known … Read MoreFrederick McKinley Jones (1893-1961)
Dr. Mark Dean, an American inventor and computer engineer, is one of the most important figures in the emergence of the personal computer in the late 20th Century. Three of the nine patents on the original personal computer (PC) by International Business Machines (IBM) are … Read MoreMark Dean (1957- )
Granville T. Woods was a prominent inventor and electrical engineer who developed inventions that were awarded 27 patents by the U.S. Patent Office between 1884 and 1903. Because of his significant electrical inventions he is known as the “Black Edison.” Woods was born on April … Read MoreGranville T. Woods (1856-1910)
