Blacks in the Sciences

Words Worth Remembering

"We have what I would call educational genocide. I’m concerned about learning totally, but I’m immersed in the disastrous record of how many black kids are going into science. They are very few and far between. I’ve said that when I see more black students in the laboratories than I see on the football field, I’ll be happy."

Jewel Plummer Cobb (b. 1924) African American biologist and educator

Black Scientists, Mathematicians, Inventors, and Innovators of Note

Benjamin Banneker

The son of a slave, Benjamin Banneker overcame prejudice and a lack of formal education to become a respected mathematician and amateur astronomer, who helped to design the city of Washington, D.C. He has often been described as the first African-American scientist.

Patricia Bath

Patricia Bath, an ophthalmologist, was the first African-American woman doctor to receive a patent for an medical invention. Her invention transformed eye surgery by using a laser to remove cataracts.

Guion Bluford

An aerospace engineer and pilot, Guion Bluford, also known as Guy, was the first African-American to go into space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983.

Dannellia Gladden Green

"When striving to answer a question or find the root cause of a phenomenon, answer Why at least five times. No matter how intelligent you think you are, recognize that there is a power much greater than us all and acknowledge our creator in all things."