First Science PhD's

Did You Know?

First Science Ph.D.'s Awarded to African Americans

Anatomy	Roscoe Lewis McKinney University of Chicago – 1931 Ruth Lloyd Case Western University – 1941 Clarence William Wright Ohio State University – 1965(First from Ohio State University)
Astronomy	Harvey Washington Banks Georgetown University -- 1961
Bacteriology	Ruth Ella Moore Ohio State University -- 1933
Bioscience	Alfred O. Coffin Illinois Wesleyan Univsersity – 1889 (Second Science Ph.D. awarded to an African American)
Botany	Jessie Jarue Mark Iowa State University -- 1935
Chemistry	St. Elmo Brady University of Illinois – 1916 Marie Maynard Daly Columbia University -- 1948
Computer Science	Clarence A. Ellis University of Illinois -- 1969
Dairy Technology	Emmett Bassett Ohio State University -- 1956
Dentistry	Robert Tanner Freeman Harvard University -- 1867
Electrical Engineering	Percy A. Pierre Johns Hopkins University -- 1967
Engineering	Walter Thomas Daniel Iowa State University – 1941 (First African American engineer licensed in Louisiana)
Geology	Marguerite Thomas Williams Catholic University of America – 1942
Pure Mathematics	Walter Richard Talbot University of Pittsburgh – 1934
Mathematics	Elbert Frank Cox Cornell University – 1934 Evelyn Boyd Granville Yale University – 1949 Marjorie Lee Browne University of Michigan – 1949
Metallurgical Engineering	Frank Alphonso Crossley Illinois Institute of Technology – 1950
Meteorology	Charles Edward Anderson Massachusetts Institute of Technology – 1960
Nursing (Public Health)	Elizabeth Lipford Kent University of Michigan – 1955 (First African American Nurse to earn a Ph.D.)
Pathology	Robert Stewart Jason University of Chicago – 1932
Pharmacy	Ray Clifford Darlington Ohio State University – 1948
Physics	Edward Alexander Bouchet Yale University – 1876 (First Ph.D. awarded to an African American. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa)
Physiology	Julian Herman Lewis University of Chicago – 1915
Psychology	Francis Cecil Sumner Clark Universitiy – 1920 Inez Beverely Prosser University of Michigan – 1933 (Educational Psychology) Ruth Howard University of Chicago – 1934 Frederick Payne Watts University of Pennsylvania -- 1941
Public Health	Paul Bertau Cornely University of Michigan – 1934
Veterinary Medicine	Augustus Nathaniel Lushington University of Pennsylvania -- 1897
Wood and Paper Science	Chavonda J. Jacobs-Young North Carolina State University - 1998
Zoology	Roger Arliner Young University of Chicago – 1940 Ernest Everett Just University of Chicago – 1916 (Physiology and Zoology)

Sources:

Princeton University, Mitchell C. Brown

Blacks in Science and Education, Vivian O. Sammons (Washington, D.C.; Hemisphere Publishers), 1989, pp.278-279.

Black First: 2,000 Years of Extraordinary Achievement, Jessie Carney Smith, editor; Caspar L. Jordan, Robert J. Johns, associate editors; foreword by Johnetta B. Cole (Detroit, MI; Gale research), 1994