Professor Hammonds is the Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science and Professor of African and African American Studies and current Chair of the History of Science Department at Harvard College. She earned her Ph.D. in the History of Science Department, an S.M. … Read MoreEvelynn M. Hammonds (1953- )
Marcus Jacques Garvey, Jr., was the oldest son of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Sr., founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) and Amy Euphemia Jacques. The UNIA-ACL, a leading black nationalist organization, was founded in 1914 in Jamaica and later headquartered … Read MoreMarcus Jacques Garvey, Jr. (1930-2020)
Dr. Sekazi Kauze Mtingwa is an African American theoretical high-energy physicist and co-founder of the National Society of Black Physicists. He has served as president of the Interdisciplinary Consortium for Research and Educational Access in Science and Engineering. Mtingwa’s contributions to the field of physics … Read MoreSekazi Mtingwa (1949- )
Meredith C. Gourdine was an American engineer, athlete, and inventor. He primarily focused on electrogasdynamics systems which refer to generating energy from the motion of gas molecules that have been electrically charged under pressure. He is considered a pioneer in the field and specialized in … Read MoreMeredith C. Gourdine (1929-1998)
Valerie LaVerne Thomas, scientist, mathematician, physicist, and inventor, was born on February 1, 1943 in Baltimore, Maryland. Reared in the historic all-Black Cherry Hill community, Valerie’s parents were her first role models. They instilled in her the importance of education that resulted “in an inquiry-based … Read MoreValerie Thomas (1943- )
Known for discovering the Alpha Helix, a common protein structure, Dr. Herman Branson was a pioneer in biophysics. Born on August 14, 1914 in Pocahontas, Virginia, not much is known about his early life. After a primary and elementary education, Branson attended Virginia College (now … Read MoreHerman Branson (1914-1995)
On July 1, 2020, Darryll John Pines assumed the Presidency of the University of Maryland (UDM) at College Park, the second African American to lead the venerable school (the first was John B. Slaughter, 1982-1988) which was founded in 1856 and enrolls in excess of … Read MoreDarryll John Pines (1964- )
Astronomer Gibor S. Basri was born in May 3, 1951 in New York City, New York, the eldest son of Saul A. Basri, an Iraqi Jewish immigrant from Iraq and physics professor, and the former Phyllis Claire Whyte, a Jamaican-born African American dance and ballet instructor. Though he experienced … Read MoreGibor Saul Basri (1951- )
Pioneering physician–physicist Roderic I. Pettigrew was born in Waynesboro, Georgia, on March 26, 1951, one of the three children of Dr. Cleveland W. Pettigrew, president of Fort Valley State University from 1973 to 1982, and the former Edwina l. Phinazee. An exceptional student at Monroe High School in Albany, Georgia, … Read MoreRoderic Ivan Pettigrew (1951- )
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)
