ARCHIE A. ALEXANDER (1888–1958), an engineer, headed his own civil engineering firm for more than forty years. Among the numerous projects his firm completed are Washington, D.C.’s Tidal Basin Bridge and the K Street Freeway. Although it was, at that time, not illegal to deny work on the basis of race, Alexander competed successfully with white firms building bridges, airfields, sewer systems, and power plants all over the United States. In 1945, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Alexander governor of the Virgin Islands.

HAROLD AMOS (1919–2003) was the Maude and Lillian Presley Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the Harvard Medical School, where he joined the faculty as an instructor in 1954 and became the first African American department chairman in 1968. His primary research area, hexose metabolism in mammalian cells, is essential to the understanding and treatment of diseases such as diabetes and some forms of immune deficiency. Dr. Amos was a Fulbright Scholar at the Pasteur Institute in Paris in 1951 and received the Dr. Charles Drew World Medical Prize in 1989. He was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1991 was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Amos was awarded the Public Welfare medal of the National Academy of Sciences in 1995 and an honorary degree by Harvard University in 1996. A renowned teacher and mentor, Dr. Amos served on the boards of several organizations, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, where he worked to expand the participation of minorities in medicine and science.

BENJAMIN BANNEKER (1731–1806) worked with Pierre L’Enfant, Andrew Ellicott, and others to plan Washington, D.C., the new capital of the United States. After Mr. L’Enfant was dismissed from the project and took his detailed maps with him, Mr. Banneker was able to reproduce the maps from memory and complete the survey. Before being appointed by President George Washington to work on the capital, Mr. Banneker distinguished himself as a self-taught mathematician and astronomer. He predicted the solar eclipse that occurred on April 14, 1789, contradicting forecasts by more prominent astronomers. Two years later Mr. Banneker began publishing the Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac and Ephemeris, which became a regional bestseller and was published until 1802.

MARY McLEOD BETHUNE (1875–1955) was a sociologist and a special adviser on minority affairs to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. During the years of the Great Depression, Dr. Bethune was director of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration. She served on numerous presidential commissions under Presidents Coolidge, Hoover, and Roosevelt. In 1904 she founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls, which later merged with a school for boys to become Bethune Cookman College. Dr. Bethune was its president. She served as president of the National Association of Colored Women and later, in 1935, was a founder of the National Council of Negro Women. Among her many awards is the Spingarn Medal presented by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

KEITH L. BLACK (1957– ) is a renowned neurosurgeon and scientist who is the chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery and the director of the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Black also holds the Ruth and Lawrence Harvey Chair in Neurosciences and is a professor of neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. At age seventeen, he published his first scientific paper, which earned the Westinghouse Science Award. He completed an accelerated college program at the University of Michigan and earned both his undergraduate and medical degrees in six years. He completed his internship in general surgery and residency in neurological surgery at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. Dr. Black has pioneered research on designing ways to open the blood-brain barrier, enabling chemotherapeutic drugs to be delivered directly into the tumor. His other ground- breaking research includes developing a vaccine to enhance the body's immune response to brain tumors, using gene arrays to develop molecular profiles of tumors, employing optical technology for brain mapping, and using focused microwave energy to noninvasively destroy brain tumors.

DAVID HAROLD BLACKWELL (1919–) has made important contributions to the fields of applied mathematics and statistics. His ability to express a concept has added much to the introduction of modern statistical methods in mathematics. Dr. Blackwell often uses powerful and highly innovative mathematical techniques to arrive at the solutions to his research problems. Now professor of statistics at the University of California at Berkeley, he also taught at Howard and Clark Universities. In his youth he was a Rosenwald Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study. Dr. Blackwell was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences in 1965.

EDWARD ALEXANDER BOUCHET (1852–1918) was the sixth American to earn a Ph.D. in physics and the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in any field from an American university. He entered Yale College in 1870 and graduated summa cum laude and sixth in his class in 1874. He was nominated for Phi Beta Kappa that year--the first African American ever nominated for the society--but because Yale's chapter of PBK was largely inactive for a period of more than ten years, he was not elected until the chapter was reorganized in 1884. After finishing his undergraduate degree, Bouchet continued studying at Yale, receiving his Ph.D. in physics in 1876 with a dissertation entitled “Measuring Refractive Indices.” Dr. Bouchet dedicated his life and career to the academic education of younger African Americans, teaching chemistry and physics at high schools around the country. Though he died alone and in obscurity, Dr. Bouchet inspired his students, black and white, to reach for goals they never would have imagined without his influence.

RANDOLPH W. BROMERY (1926–), a geologist, geophysicist, and educator, is Commonwealth Professor, Emeritus, of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a trustee of The Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Bromery served as an exploration geophysicist with the U. S. Geological Survey and as president of Roxbury Community College, Boston, and Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts. At the University of Massachusetts, he held positions as a professor of geophysics, department chair; vice chancellor for student affairs, chancellor of the Amherst campus, and executive vice president of the university system. Dr. Bromery also served as chancellor of the Massachusetts Board of Regents for Higher Education and as interim president of Westfield State College, Westfield, Massachusetts. He has received many awards, including Distinguished Alumnus Awards from Howard University, the University of Massachusetts, and The Johns Hopkins University, and nine honorary degrees from universities in the United States and abroad. Dr. Bromery was appointed by President George W. Bush to two terms on the Presidents Committee on the National Medal of Science. He has been a member of the NASA Advisory Board and numerous other advisory boards for the federal government as well as the National Research Council. During World War II, Dr. Bromery served with the Tuskegee Airmen. He earned a B.S. in mathematics from Howard University, an M.S in geology from American University, and a Ph.D. in geology from The Johns Hopkins University.

RALPH J. BUNCHE (1904–1971), political scientist and a founder of the United Nations (UN), was a key UN diplomat for more than two decades. In 1950 Dr. Bunche became the first African American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Earlier, while with the U.S. Department of State (1944–1946), he wrote the trusteeship portions of the UN Charter that address colonization. In 1948 he was appointed to a permanent post at the UN, where his outstanding skills as a negotiator could be most useful. He became undersecretary for special political affairs at the UN in 1957; in 1968 he was appointed undersecretary general. Dr. Bunche was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

ALEXA I. CANADY (1950–) was the first African American female neurosurgeon. She practiced at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan for nearly twenty years. Starting as a staff neurosurgeon, she rose quickly to chief of neurosurgery in 1987 and ultimately became the Peter Scotanus Professor of Neurosurgery. Dr. Canady is credited with taking an ordinary neurosurgery program and making it one of the noted pediatric neurosurgical programs in the country. She collaborated on research activity on intraventricular hemorrhage in premature infants and epilepsy surgery in young children. Dr. Canady retired in 1981 and moved to Pensacola, Florida. On arriving, she learned that no pediatric neurosurgery was available in the Panhandle and patients were traveling over four hundred miles away to receive care. Sacred Heart Hospital approached her about returning to practice in a more limited fashion, and she agreed. In December 2005, she received the Chairman’s Recognition Award from the Florida Board of Medicine for being willing to meet this critical need in the Florida Panhandle. Dr. Canady graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School, cum laude, in 1975.

GEORGE CARRUTHERS (1939–) is an engineer and astrophysicist at the Naval Research Laboratory. He was the principal scientist responsible for the development of a special camera that made the trip to the moon aboard Apollo 16 in 1972. The camera was designed to study the earth’s upper atmosphere, interplanetary and interstellar space, stars, and galaxies by making observations of light in the far-ultraviolet. Later versions of the camera have flown on Skylab 4, two space shuttle flights, and the ARGOS satellite. Dr. Carruthers is also involved in numerous community-based organizations where he encourages students of all races to pursue their interests in the sciences. Many high school and college students have worked as research apprentices with him, assembling equipment and test components and reducing data for astronomy experiments on the space shuttle and other satellite missions. He currently teaches a course on earth and space science at Howard University. Dr. Carruthers has been honored by awards from NASA, the American Astronomical Society, the National Science Foundation, and other organizations.

BENJAMIN SOLOMON CARSON, SR. (1951–) is director of pediatric neurosurgery as well as associate professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University. He performed the first successful separation of Siamese twins joined at the back of the head. He codeveloped a pediatric craniofacial surgery program, combining both neurosurgery and plastic surgery procedures, significantly decreasing the time in surgery and risk to the patient. A graduate of Yale University and the University of Michigan Medical School, Dr. Carson has been awarded numerous honors, including eighteen honorary doctorates, and several scholarship programs have been established in his name.

GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER (early 1860s–1943) was an agricultural chemist. Born into slavery, he helped revolutionize the South’s economy by liberating it from dependence on cotton as its sole crop. During his forty-seven years at Tuskeegee Institute, where he headed the Department of Agricultural Research, Dr. Carver developed more than three hundred products from peanuts. His experiments also led to the development of multiple uses for soybeans and other indigenous, but previously unutilized, crops. He helped southern farmers improve their lot by inaugurating farm demonstration programs. Dr. Carver was a member of the Royal Society of Arts, London.

JEWEL PLUMMER COBB (1924–) has been the trustee professor since 1990 and, since 1991, director of the ACCESS Center at California State University in Los Angeles. Formerly president of California State University in Fullerton (1981–1990), Dr. Cobb has done extensive cancer research, specializing in cell biology, and was a member of the National Science Board from 1974 to 1980. The recipient of several honorary doctorates and many awards, including the Kilby Award for lifetime achievement in 1995, Dr. Cobb was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine in 1974.

W. MONTAGUE COBB (1904–1990) was a distinguished professor of anatomy best known for his research in physical anthropology, the growth and development of the African American, and aging in the adult skeleton. He also chronicled the history of African Americans in medicine. Dr. Cobb served on the Executive Committee of the White House Conference on Health in 1965. In 1978 he received the U.S. Navy Distinguished Public Service Award and was the 1980 recipient of the Henry Gray Award, the highest honor bestowed by the American Association of Anatomists.

CHRISTINE VONCILE MANN DARDEN has been responsible for advocacy, planning, and management of the aeronautical work at NASA's Langley Research Center done under the auspices of externally-led programs. She served as director of NASA’s Aero-Performing Center Program Management Office (APCPMO), worked with the Strategic Planning Office, and directed strategic communications and education before her retirement in 2007. During her career, Dr. Darden conducted extensive research for NASA in supersonic aircraft noise, especially in the area of sonic boom reduction. Dr. Darden has also been active with various boards and committees of the National Technical Association, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), where she has also served as an ordained elder. Her many awards include the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Aerospace and the Black Engineer of the Year Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government by the Council of Engineering Deans of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. She holds a B.S. degree from Hampton Institute, an M.S. in applied mathematics from Virginia State College, a D.Sc. degree in mathematical engineering from The George Washington University, and a certificate of advanced study in management from Simmons College Graduate School of Management.

HAILE T. DEBAS (1937–), the executive director of UCSF Global Health Sciences, is recognized internationally for his contributions to academic medicine and is widely consulted on issues associated with global health. At the University of California, San Francisco, he served as dean of medicine, vice chancellor for medical affairs, and chancellor. A gastrointestinal surgeon by training, Dr. Debas is also the Maurice Galante Distinguished Professor of Surgery and chaired the UCSF Department of Surgery from 1986 to 2003. Previously, he served on the faculty of surgery at the University of British Columbia, UCLA, and the University of Washington. Under Dr. Debas's stewardship, the UCSF School of Medicine became a national model for medical education. He has held leadership positions with numerous membership organizations and professional associations, including serving as president of the American Surgical Association and chair of the Council of Deans of the AAMC. He has been a member of the Institute of Medicine since 1990 and is the current chair of the Membership Committee. He is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Debas serves on the United Nations’ Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa and on the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy of the National Academy of Sciences. A native of Eritrea, he received his M.D. from McGill University and completed his surgical training at the University of British Columbia.

CHARLES R. DREW (1904–1950), medical researcher and surgeon, was a pioneer in the preservation of blood. Through his outstanding work on blood plasma, Dr. Drew helped save thousands of lives during World War II. The blood plasma bank he organized became the model for the system used nationwide today by the American Red Cross. In his position as chief surgeon and chief of staff at Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., Dr. Drew trained many of today’s distinguished black surgeons.

WILLIAM E.B. DuBOIS (1868–1963), social scientist, teacher, author, and political activist, was an avid advocate for civil rights for all people. Dr. Du Bois earned his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1895. A founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and for many years editor of The Crisis magazine, Dr. Du Bois is considered the first African American sociologist and is noted as a major interpreter of American history and culture. Dr. Du Bois was a founder and leader of the Pan-Africanist movement and a founder of the Niagara Movement, an organization of African American intellectuals who promoted civil rights. Dr. Du Bois was the author of nineteen books. His classic work is The Souls of Black Folk.

RHETAUGH GRAVES DUMAS (1938–2007) was vice provost of the University of Michigan and dean of the University of Michigan School of Nursing. She was the first woman, the first nurse, and the first African American to serve as deputy director of the National Institute of Mental Health. She was also the first nurse to use the scientific method to study clinical nursing problems. A member of the Institute of Medicine, a charter member and former president of the American Academy of Nursing, past president of the National League for Nursing, and a fellow of the A. K. Rice Institute, she held a B.S. in nursing, an M.S. in psychiatric nursing, and a Ph.D. in social psychology. President Bill Clinton appointed her to the National Bioethics Advisory Committee, and she was the recipient of the President’s 21st Century Award from the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN (1939–) earned her law degree from Yale University and became the first African American woman to be admitted to the bar in Mississippi. As a leader with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Mrs. Edelman helped coordinate the Poor People’s Campaign after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and founded the Children’s Defense Fund, which became a powerful and successful advocate for government programs such as Head Start to benefit underprivileged and neglected children, foster children, and children with disabilities. Mrs. Edelman has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award, has chaired the Board of Trustees of Spelman College, and has written several books on the welfare of children and families.

VERNICE FERGUSON was a senior fellow in the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, holding the Fagin Family Chair in Cultural Diversity from 1993–1997. From 1980 to 1992 she was the assistant chief medical director for nursing programs in the Department of Veterans Affairs. In this position she was responsible for the largest organized nursing service in the world, with more than 60,000 nursing personnel. Prior to this assignment, she was the chief of the Nursing Department at the Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health. She is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Nursing of the United Kingdom, the second American nurse so honored. She is the recipient of eight honorary doctorates and two fellowships, one in physics, the other in alcohol studies. In 2008, Ms. Ferguson received the Freddie Lifetime Achievement Award.

HENRY W. FOSTER, JR., (1933–) is a professor emeritus of obstetrics and gynecology and a former dean at Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee. In 1996, President Clinton appointed him Senior Advisor on Teen Pregnancy Reduction and Youth Issues, serving also as a consultant to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A graduate of Morehouse College and the University Of Arkansas School Of Medicine as well as a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, Dr. Foster pioneered what has become a model for regionalized perinatal health care systems throughout the country. He is the recipient of the National Medical Association’s highest honor¬—The Scroll Merit Award.

JAMES RAPHAEL GAVIN III (1945–) is a clinical professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and at the Indiana University School of Medicine. He is currently CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Healing Our Village, Inc. and serves as a director for Baxter International, Inc., Amylin, Inc., and Nuvelo, Inc. Previously he was president and CEO of MicroIslet, Inc., San Diego, CA; president of the Morehouse School of Medicine; senior scientific officer at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI); and director of the HHMI–NIH Research Scholars Program.. Dr Gavin is a member of the Institute of Medicine, the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the American Association of Physicians, and the Sigma Pi Phi Leadership Fraternity. He is a past president of the ADA. A trustee for Emory University, Livingstone College, and a trustee emeritus for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), he is also national director of the Harold Amos Faculty Development Program of the RWJF. Dr Gavin has more than two hundred publications, including two books: Healing Our Village: A Self-Care Guide for Diabetes Control (with L. Coleman) and Dr. Gavin’s Health Guide for African Americans (with S. Landrum). Among the honors he has received are the E.E. Just Award, the R.C. Greenwood Award, the Emory University Medal for Distinguished Achievement, the Banting Medal for Distinguished Service, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Duke University School of Medicine. He holds a degree in chemistry from Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina; a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Emory University; and an M.D. from Duke University.

EVELYN BOYD GRANVILLE (1924–) is a graduate of Smith College and Yale University, where in 1949 she became the second black woman in the United States to receive a doctoral degree in mathematics. After several years with the National Bureau of Standards, Dr. Granville spent twelve years in private industry specializing in orbital computations, celestial mechanics, numerical analysis, and digital computer techniques in support of the Mercury Project (the first U.S. manned mission in space), and the Apollo Project. Dr. Granville subsequently joined the faculty of California State University, Los Angeles, teaching courses in computer programming and numerical analysis as well as coauthoring a college textbook for prospective elementary school teachers on the teaching of mathematics. Dr. Granville moved to Texas in 1983, teaching for three and a half years at Texas College and seven years at the University of Texas, both in Tyler. She remains active in the field of education through visits to schools to encourage the study of mathematics and the presentation of workshops to strengthen the teaching of mathematics.

BEATRIX A. HAMBURG (1923–) is a visiting scholar in the Department of Psychiatry of the Cornell University College of Medicine. She has had a long career in academic medicine. She is a former president of the William T. Grant Foundation, which supports research on the development of children, adolescents, and youth, and has served on the faculties of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Hamburg received her A.B. from Vassar College and her M.D. from the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Hamburg is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Society of Medicine, and a member of the Institute of Medicine. She has participated in many studies sponsored by the Institute of Medicine, the National Research Council, and other organizations. As a medical researcher, Dr. Hamburg is most noted for her studies of early adolescence, pioneering work on peer counseling, and studies of diabetic children and adolescents.

BERNARD A. HARRIS, JR. (1956–) is a former astronaut who was the space shuttle payload commander on the first flight of the joint Russian-American Space Program and the first African-American to walk in space. Dr. Harris is Vice President and Chief Scientist at SPACEHAB, Inc., and holds several faculty appointments, including clinical professor in internal medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch. He holds an M.D from the Texas Tech University School of Medicine, an M.M.S. from the University of Texas Medical Branch, and an M.B.A. from the University of Houston. Dr. Harris trained as a flight surgeon at the Aerospace School of Medicine at Brooks Air Force Base, is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, and has conducted research in the fields of musculoskeletal physiology, disuse osteoporosis, and space adaptation. Dr. Harris’ achievements have been recognized by the Morehouse School of Medicine, NASA, the American Astronautical Society, and many other organizations.

W. LINCOLN HAWKINS (1911–1992), a pioneer in chemical engineering and the uses of plastics, was a leader in discovering the factors limiting the life of plastics and in developing life extending additives as a practical means for conservation of materials. He studied chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he was one of only two black students in the school in 1928. He earned an M.S. from Howard University in 1934 and completed his Ph.D. at McGill University in 1938. After a research fellowship at Columbia University, he joined Bell Laboratories in 1942 (the first African American scientist on their staff). His work there led to the invention of the synergistic system of chemical stabilization used throughout the world in the manufacture of plastic cable sheath. Dr. Hawkins’s research was of significant importance in developing ways to recycle plastics. At Bell Labs, he served as head of plastics chemistry research and assistant director of the Chemical Research Laboratory until his retirement in 1976. In 1975 he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering. Through a summer program of the American Chemical Society and as a board member of several educational institutions, he was active in encouraging disadvantaged youths to understand and pursue careers in chemistry.

RUBY PURYEAR HEARN (1940–) graduated from Skidmore College and then attended Yale University, where she received an M.S. and Ph.D. in biophysics. Dr. Hearn spent most of her professional life on the staff of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the largest health care philanthropy in the United States, where she participated in strategic program planning and served as the Foundation’s liaison within the non-profit community. Now retired, she holds the position of senior vice president emerita. Dr. Hearn has had major responsibility for oversight and development of initiatives in maternal, infant, and child health; AIDS; substance abuse; and minority medical education. She was a fellow of the Yale Corporation and a member of the Science Board of the Food and Drug Administration. She also served on the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Hearn is currently a member of the Institute of Medicine, where she is active on the Board on Children, Youth and Families.

JOHN L.S. HOLLOMAN, JR., (1919–2002) was a physician, a medical administrator, and a civil rights activist. He earned an M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1943 and later took advanced medical courses at Cornell University’s School of Medicine. In Dr. Holloman’s extensive teaching and public health career, he served as a professor of public health and health administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and on the staff of the Subcommittee on Health of the House Committee on Ways and Means of the U.S. Congress. In the 1960s, he served as an attending physician on many of the civil rights marches in the South, including the 1965 Selma march, for which he also planned and managed medical services. As a founder of the Medical Committee for Civil Rights, he led a protest against the American Medical Association’s support of medical organizations that would not treat black patients. Dr. Holloman’s other posts included the presidency of the New York City Health and Hospital Corporation and of the National Medical Association as well as the national chairmanship of the Medical Committee for Human Rights. Dr. Holloman was the medical director of the W. F. Ryan Community Health Center in New York City.

DONALD R. HOPKINS (1941–), a recognized authority on domestic and international health, was a leader in the global eradication of smallpox. He has chaired and served on numerous international committees on disease eradication, immunization, and epidemiology. An educator of health professionals, Dr. Hopkins has long been associated with the Harvard School of Public Health and Morehouse School of Medicine. He received the Medal of Excellence from the Centers for Disease Control and the Distinguished Service Medal from the U.S. Public Health Service. Dr. Hopkins was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1987.

FREEMAN A. HRABOWSKI, III, (1950–) has served as president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) since 1992. His research and publications focus on science and math education, with special emphasis on minority participation and performance. He is a consultant to the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Academies, and to universities and school systems nationally. He has co-authored two books, Beating the Odds and Overcoming the Odds (Oxford University Press), on parenting and high-achieving African American males and females in science. Recent honors include election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society; being named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and receiving the McGraw Prize in Education and the U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. Born in 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama, he graduated at nineteen from Hampton Institute with highest honors in mathematics. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he received his M.A. (mathematics) and Ph.D. (higher education administration/statistics) at age twenty-four.

SHIRLEY A. JACKSON (1946–), a theoretical physicist, was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1973). She is president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, New York, and has held senior leadership positions in government, industry, research, and academe. Her research and policy focus includes energy security and the national capacity for innovation, including addressing the “Quiet Crisis” of looming gaps in the science, technology, and engineering workforce and reduced support for basic research. Dr. Jackson was chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1995–1999). She is a vice chairman of the Council on Competitiveness and co-chairs its Energy Security, Innovation and Sustainability initiative. She is past president (2004) and chairman of the board (2005) of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and of the American Philosophical Society, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Physical Society, and AAAS. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the NYSE Euronext, and serves on the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution and as a director of IBM, FedEx, Marathon Oil, Medtronic, and PSEG. Dr. Jackson also is a member of the board of the Council on Foreign Relations. Calling her a “national treasure,” the National Science Board selected her as its 2007 Vannevar Bush Award recipient for “a lifetime of achievements in scientific research, education, and senior statesman-like contributions to public policy.”

MAE C. JEMISON, (1956–) blasted into orbit aboard the shuttle Endeavour, September 12, 1992, as the first woman of color to go into space. The flight was just one of a series of accomplishments for this dynamic woman, who is founder and president of two technology companies. Prior to becoming a NASA astronaut, Dr. Jemison practiced medicine in Los Angeles and was the Area Peace Corps medical officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia in West Africa. After NASA, she was a professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College and an A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. She founded the non-profit Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence, which developed and has hosted, among other initiatives, The Earth We Share™ (TEWS) since 1994, an annual international science camp where students, ages twelve to sixteen, work together to solve current global dilemmas. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Jemison has garnered many of the nation’s highest national, academic, and institutional honors for her public service as an astronaut, scientist, healthcare provider, and educator. Born in Decatur, Alabama, and raised in Chicago, Dr. Jemison earned a B.S. degree in chemical engineering, fulfilled the requirements for an A.B. in African and Afro-American Studies from Stanford University, and received her M.D. from Cornell University.

HOWARD S. JONES, JR., (1921–2005) retired engineer and scientist, was chief of the microwave research branch at Harry Diamond Laboratories, U. S. Department of the Army. Dr. Jones designed and developed state-of-the-art microwave antennas, electronic components, and devices (waveguide, coaxial, and stripline) for use in communication systems. He also served as an advisor to electronic and radar systems designers on matters relating to antennas and microwave system hardware. He received a B.S in mathematics and physics from Virginia Union University, an M.S. in electrical engineering from Bucknell University, and several honorary degrees. He served as a consultant and advisor for the National Science Foundation and the National Research Council. Dr. Jones was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1999. He currently holds thirty-one U.S. patents (as inventor or co-inventor) and is the author of more than forty publications.

PERCY L. JULIAN (1899–1975) was a research chemist whose trail-blazing work in uses for soybeans resulted in the development of a multiplicity of new products, the most important of which are low cost drugs and hormones. He devised an inexpensive form of cortisone, used in the treatment of arthritis, from soybean sterols. His research led to the manufacture in quantity of the hormones testosterone and progesterone. Among his many “firsts” in the field of steroids was his synthesis of the drug physostigmine, used to treat glaucoma. Dr. Julian was a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

ERNEST E. JUST (1883–1941) was a marine biologist. In 1909 Dr. Just began his research on the embryological resources of marine animals at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. His study of the process of fertilization in marine invertebrates and of the fundamental role of the cell surface in the development of organisms made him a leading authority on marine biology. A professor of zoology, Dr. Just wrote extensively in his field. Two outstanding works are Basic Methods for Experiments on Eggs of Marine Animals and The Biology of the Cell Surface, both published in 1939.

RISA LAVIZZO-MOUREY (1954–), president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is a national leader in transforming America’s health systems so people live healthier lives and receive the health care they need. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2001 as senior vice president and director of the health care group, Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey was a leader in academic medicine, government service, and her medical specialty of geriatrics. She was the Sylvan Eisman Professor of Medicine and Health Care Systems at the University of Pennsylvania and director of Penn’s Institute on Aging. In Washington, D.C., she was deputy administrator of what is now the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality. In 2008, Forbes magazine ranked Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey as number twenty-two on its 100 Most Powerful Women list. Modern Healthcare also included Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey on its list of the 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare. Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey earned her M.D. from Harvard Medical School and an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. She completed a residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston; was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania; and trained in geriatrics at the University of Pennsylvania.

LaSALLE D. LEFFALL, JR. (1930–) a noted surgeon and oncologist, is the Charles R. Drew professor and chairman of the Department of Surgery at Howard University, where he has been on the faculty since 1962. In 1979, as the first African-American to serve as national president of the American Cancer Society, he focused attention on the increasing incidence and mortality of cancer among black Americans, creating an innovative program to address cancer disparities among ethnic populations. Dr. Leffall was also the first African American president of other national organizations, including the Society of Surgical Oncology, the Society of Surgical Chairmen, and the American College of Surgeons. His positions of national prominence include membership on the National Cancer Advisory Board, the American Board of Surgery, and the President’s Cancer Panel. Among his numerous honors are the Presidential Award from the D.C. Chapter, American College of Surgeons; the James Ewing Medal of the Society of Surgical Oncology; the Charles R. Drew Medal, Drew Postgraduate Medical School; and four honorary degrees. Dr. Leffall was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine in 1973. A graduate of Florida A&M College, he received an M.D. degree from Howard University College of Medicine, ranking first in his class; trained in surgery at Freedmen’s Hospital (now Howard University Hospital); and completed a surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. His writings include a book of memoires, No Boundaries: A Cancer Surgeon’s Odyssey, (Howard University Press, 2005).

AUDREY FORBES MANLEY (1934–) retired as Spelman College’s first alumna president after a long career in private and public service. Manley received a BA from Spelman, an M.D. from Meharry Medical College, a Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, and completed her training in pediatrics at Cook County Children’s Hospital. Manley has served on the faculties of Howard University, Emory University, University of Chicago, and the University of California. In 1976, she joined the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) and was later appointed as the first African American woman principle deputy assistant secretary for health with over-sight of eight agencies including the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration. While at USPHS, Manley also directed the sickle cell anemia and other genetic disease programs. She went on to serve as deputy U.S. surgeon general and later as acting U.S. surgeon general before becoming president of Spelman College. Manley was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1977.

CORA BAGLEY MARRETT (1942–) is a professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin, where she has held tenure since 1974. From 1992 to 1996 she was assistant director for social, behavioral, and economic sciences at the National Science Foundation. From 1996 to 1998 she served by appointment on the Board of Governors of the Argonne National Laboratory and was a member of a peer-review oversight group for the National Institutes of Health. From 1997 to 2001, she was provost, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, and a professor of sociology and Afro-American studies at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. In 2007 Dr. Marrett took leave from the University of Wisconsin to assume her current post as assistant director for education and human resources at the National Science Foundation. She earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

SAMUEL P. MASSIE (1919–2005) was the first African-American professor of chemistry at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he served on the faculty from 1966 to 1994, and the first to head its chemistry department. As widely recognized for his efforts to encourage young people in the sciences as for his scientific achievement, Dr. Massie received the Dreyfuss Award from the American Chemical Society in March 1996 for his work in developing future careers in chemistry. In 1994 the U.S. Department of Energy joined AIME, a coalition of Fortune 100 companies, in establishing a Samuel P. Massie Chair of Excellence in Environmental Sciences at each of the ten historically black college and university engineering schools. Dr. Massie’s research contributed to drugs to combat malaria, cancer, and other diseases, and his 1954 Chemical Reviews article, “The Chemistry of Phenothiazine,” is considered a classic in the field. Chemical and Engineering News ranked him among the top seventy-five chemists of the twentieth century. Dr. Massie was vice president of Bingwa Software Company, which develops curricula using multicultural models.

GARRETT AUGUSTUS MORGAN, Sr. (1877–1963) was the son of former slaves and devoted his life to creating items that made the lives of common people safer and easier. Firefighters in many cities in the early 1900s wore the safety helmet and gas mask that Mr. Morgan invented and for which he was awarded a gold medal at the Second International Exposition of Safety and Sanitation in New York in 1914. The gas mask Morgan invented in 1912 (patent no. 1,113,675) was also used during World War I to protect soldiers from chlorine gas. In 1916, Mr. Morgan made national news for using his gas mask to rescue several men trapped by a gas explosion in a tunnel being constructed under Lake Erie. Mr. Morgan was honored with two gold medals for his heroic efforts. His automated traffic signal (patent no. 1,475,024) featured a third position that halted traffic in all directions between Stop and Go. These signals were the basis for modern traffic signal systems and remained in use until they were replaced with the light signal devices used today.

SAMUEL M. NABRIT (1905–2003) was a biologist with a long and distinguished career in science education. Dr. Nabrit directed the National Fellowships Fund of the Council of Southern Universities, which supports approximately 560 African Americans earning doctoral degrees that will lead to careers in higher education. As an educator, Dr. Nabrit served Atlanta University for twenty-three years as a professor of biology and dean, and he was the second president of Texas Southern University in Houston. Dr. Nabrit also served as president of the National Institute of Science (1945) and as a member of the National Science Board (1956) and the Atomic Energy Commission (1966). Dr. Nabrit was a founding member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine.

ARLIE OSWALD PETTERS (1964–) is a mathematical physicist and professor of mathematics, physics, and business administration at Duke University. He is a multi-dimensional theoretician who was the first to develop the mathematical theory of gravitational lensing, which brought powerful methods from pure mathematics to bear on astronomy. Dr. Petters also pioneered new applications of gravitational lensing in physics, predicting effects that probe the nature of spacetime around black holes and developing tests of gravitational theories such as Einstein's general relativity and hyperspace gravity models. His numerous awards and honors include an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, the first Blackwell-Tapia Prize in the mathematical sciences, and an honorary D.Sc. from his alma mater, Hunter College. At Duke's Fuqua School of Business, Dr. Petters not only teaches mathematical finance, but also fosters entrepreneurship in science and technology with a vested interest in poverty alleviation, particularly in the developing world. At Duke, he is the first African American to be tenured in the Department of Mathematics, the first to hold a joint appointment with Mathematics, Physics, and the Business School, and the first to be elected to Duke's prestigious Bass Society of Fellows. Dr. Petters received his Ph.D. in mathematics from MIT in 1991 and served on the faculty at MIT and Princeton University prior to Duke. In recognition of his outstanding scientific and educational work, Dr. Petters was named in 2008 by the Queen of England to membership in the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

VIVIAN W. PINN (1941–) is the first full-time director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an appointment she has held since 1991. In 1994 she was also named associate director for research on women’s health (NIH). She came to the NIH from Howard University College of Medicine, where she had been professor and chair of the Department of Pathology since 1982. In this position, she became the third woman to chair an academic department of pathology in the U.S. Dr. Pinn had previously held appointments at Tufts University and Harvard Medical School. She served as the eighty-eighth president (and second woman president) of the National Medical Association from 1989 to 1990. Dr. Pinn is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1995. She earned her B.A. from Wellesley College and her M.D. from the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

DAVID SATCHER (1941–) is director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Moorehouse School of Medicine. He served as the sixteenth surgeon general of the United States from 1998 to 2002, and as assistant secretary for health from 1998 to January 2001, the second person in history to serve in both capacities simultaneously. During his tenure, he released major reports on overweight and obesity, mental health, suicide prevention, oral health, smoking, and youth violence. . He also championed efforts to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health. From 1993 to 1998, Dr. Satcher was director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and administrator for the Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. From 1982 to 1993, he was president of Meharry Medical College in Nashville. He is a graduate of Morehouse College and received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University.

HERBERT C. SCURLOCK (1875–1952) was a biochemist who pioneered the application of radiation therapy for the treatment of cancer and the use of x ray to diagnose dental problems. He was a professor of physiological chemistry. Dr. Scurlock’s Textbook on Quantitative Chemical Analysis, published in 1915, is available as a reference at the Library of Congress.

JOHN B. SLAUGHTER (1934–), a computer scientist, is president and CEO of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME). He has served as president of Occidental College in Los Angeles, California, as chancellor of the University of Maryland, College Park, and as director of the National Science Foundation. Dr. Slaughter is best known for his work on the development of computer algorithms for system optimization and discrete signal processing, with emphasis on application to ocean and environmental system problems. He is the recipient of twenty-eight honorary degrees and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi honorary engineering society, was named to the Hall of Fame of the American Society for Engineering Education, and was the first person to be honored as the U.S. Black Engineer of the Year. Dr. Slaughter was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering in 1982 and was honored by the Arthur M. Bueche Award from the National Academy of Engineering in 2004.

MITCHELL W. SPELLMAN (1919–) is director of International Exchange Programs at Harvard Medical International and dean (emeritus) for International Projects, dean (emeritus) for Medical Services, and professor of surgery (emeritus) at Harvard Medical School. He has served as dean and executive dean of the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School and as professor of surgery and assistant dean at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine. He has received honorary doctoral degrees from three universities and numerous awards, including the Dillard University Distinguished Alumnus Award, the William A. Sinkler Award of the National Medical Association, and a creative award from the Charles R. Drew Medical School Foundation. A member of the Institute of Medicine, Dr. Spellman has chaired IOM’s Program Committee and served as a member of the Governing Council.

LOUIS W. SULLIVAN (1933–) is a medical researcher, educator, and adviser to the federal government. He was founding dean and director of the medical education program at Morehouse College and the first dean and president of the Morehouse School of Medicine, where he served for more than twenty years. He took leave from Morehouse from 1989 to 1993 to accept a presidential cabinet appointment as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Sullivan has served as director of hematology, the field of his major research work, at Boston University Medical Center. He founded the Boston University Hematology Service at Boston City Hospital and was project director of the Boston Sickle Cell Center. Dr. Sullivan has received numerous honors and awards and has been recognized with a mastership in the American College of Physicians. Now president emeritus of Morehouse School of Medicine, he has been a member of the Institute of Medicine since 1975.

VIVIEN THOMAS (1910–1985) graduated with honors from Pearl High School, but was unable to complete his medical education after his savings were lost in the Great Depression. He joined Vanderbilt University’s medical school as a surgical assistant, working for Dr. Alfred Blalock. In 1941, Thomas moved with Blalock to The Johns Hopkins University. While working with Blalock on high-blood pressure, traumatic shock, and cardiac research, Thomas collaborated with Blalock and others in the invention of several surgical devices and techniques. One invention, a spring device, illustrated that shock was linked to a loss of fluid and blood volume. Thomas collaborated with Blalock and Dr. Helen Taussig to create a technique that delivered more oxygen to the blood and relieved constriction caused by a heart defect. The technique, anastomosis of the subclavian artery to the pulmonary artery, was used in many tetralogy of Fallot (blue-baby syndrome) operations with great success. Thomas also performed many pre- and post-operation procedures and advised during surgeries. Later, as supervisor of The Johns Hopkins Surgical Research Laboratories, he taught a generation of surgeons and laboratory technicians. After receiving an honorary doctorate, Thomas was appointed to the medical school faculty.

REED V. TUCKSON (1951–) is executive vice president and chief of medical affairs at UnitedHealth Group, where he is responsible for improving the quality and efficiency of health services. Formerly, Dr. Tuckson served as senior vice president of professional standards for the American Medical Association (AMA). He is a former president of the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, has served as senior vice president for programs of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, and is a former commissioner of public health for the District of Columbia. Dr. Tuckson is an active member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and has held a number of federal appointments, including cabinet-level advisory committees on health reform, infant mortality, children’s health, violence, and radiation testing. Most recently, Dr. Tuckson was named one of Modern Healthcare’s “Top 25 Minority Executives” in Healthcare for 2008 and to Ebony magazine’s “2008 Power 150: The Most Influential Blacks in America” list. He is a graduate of Howard University, Georgetown University School of Medicine, and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania’s General Internal Medicine Residency and Fellowship Programs.

CHARLES HENRY TURNER (1867–1923) was a biologist, neurologist, psychologist, and chemist who made an international reputation as a researcher in animal behavior, concentrating on bees and ants. In 1907 Dr. Turner was a delegate to the Seventh International Zoological Congress, and in 1912 he became one of the few African Americans elected to membership in the Academy of Sciences of St. Louis. Dr. Turner served on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati and was head of the science department at Clark University, Atlanta, Georgia.

WARREN M. WASHINGTON (1936–) is senior scientist and a section head at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, where he served as director of the Climate and Global Dynamics Division from 1987 to 1995. He has been associated with the center since 1963. A meteorologist, he specializes in computer modeling of the earth’s climate, using such models to simulate future climate change. His book, An Introduction to Three-Dimensional Climate Modeling (with Claire Parkinson), is a standard reference in the field. A member of the National Science Board (1995–2006) and its chair (2002-2006), he also served on the President’s National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere and is active on many committees of the National Research Council. He is member of the National Academy of Engineering and of the American Philosophical Society and is past president of the American Meteorological Society.

JACK E. WHITE (1921–1988), who was director of the Howard University Cancer Research Center and chairman of the Department of Oncology at Howard University’s College of Medicine, made outstanding contributions to cancer research. He was a recipient of an award from the American Cancer Society for Outstanding Service to the Cause of Cancer Control. Dr. White was a member of the Institute of Medicine and the American Association for Cancer Research.

DANIEL HALE WILLIAMS (1858–1931) was the first person in the world to operate successfully on the human heart. He performed that feat in 1893 at Provident Hospital in Chicago and went on to perform other history making operations. In 1891 he founded Provident Hospital, first hospital and training school for African American nurses and interns in the United States. Appointed by President Grover Cleveland to head Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., Dr. Williams established a nursing school there for African Americans. His papers were printed in their entirety in the Annals of Surgery and in abridged forms in the Chicago Medical Recorder and the Illinois Medical Journal.

DONALD E. WILSON (1936–) served as dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine from September 1991 until his retirement in September 2006. In May 1999, he was named vice president for medical affairs of the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Failing retirement, in August 2007 he became senior vice president for health sciences at Howard University in Washington, DC. At the State University of New York Health Science Center in Brooklyn, he was professor and chairman of the Department of Medicine, and physician-in-chief at the University Hospital. He completed his undergraduate education at Harvard and received his medical degree from Tufts University. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and is a co-founder of the Association for Academic Minority Physicians, established in 1986. He is also a Master of the American College of Physicians, an honor bestowed on less than one percent of its members. He served as chairman of the Maryland Health Care Commission, and was chairman of the council of deans and chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Dr. Wilson has received honorary doctor of science degrees from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and Tufts University. In 2008 he received the Abraham Flexner Award for outstanding contributions to medical education from the AAMC.

WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON (1935–), one of America’s leading sociologists and a prolific author, is the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Joblessness and Urban Poverty Research Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is also a faculty member of the Departments of Sociology and African and African American Studies, and serves on the Faculty Advisory Board and Executive Committee of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. He has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Education and the Institute of Medicine. He is also past president of the American Sociological Association, and is a MacArthur Prize Fellow. In 1998 he was awarded the National Medal of Science.

CARTER G. WOODSON (1875–1950), known as the Father of Negro History, set for himself the goal of providing a scientific and historical account of people of African ancestry. Born to former slaves, he educated himself as a youth and went on to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912. Among his highly influential writings are The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861 and The Negro in Our History. Although his six volume Encyclopedia Africana remained unfinished at the time of his death, his works are the foundation for countless other writers on African American history. One of Dr. Woodson’s achievements was the organization in 1926 of the first Negro History Week, which has evolved over the years to become what is currently known as African American History Month.

M. WHARTON YOUNG (1903–1986) was a neuroanatomist whose primary research was in the fields of baldness and deafness and who also did research on the anatomical basis of glaucoma. A Fulbright scholar, professor, and visiting lecturer, he served as chairman of the Ninth International Congress of Anatomists in Leningrad, Russia, in 1970. Dr. Young received the U.S. Department of Defense’s Pentagon Award for his research on the mechanics of blast injuries.