List of African-American inventors and scientists

This list of African-American inventors and scientists documents many of the African Americans who have invented a multitude of items or made discoveries in the course of their lives. These have ranged from practical everyday devices to applications and scientific discoveries in diverse fields, including physics, biology, mathematics, plus the medical, nuclear and space sciences.

Among the earliest was George Washington Carver, whose reputation was based on his research into and promotion of alternative crops to cotton, which aided in nutrition for farm families. He wanted poor farmers to grow alternative crops both as a source of their own food and as a source of other products to improve their way of life. The most popular of his 44 practical bulletins for farmers contained 105 food recipes using peanuts. He also developed and promoted about 100 products made from peanuts that were useful for the house and farm. He received numerous honors for his work, including the Spingarn Medal of the NAACP.

A later renowned scientist was Percy Lavon Julian, a research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. He was the first to synthesize the natural product physostigmine, and a pioneer in the industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of the human hormones, steroids, progesterone, and testosterone, from plant sterols such as stigmasterol and sitosterol. His work would lay the foundation for the steroid drug industry's production of cortisone, other corticosteroids, and birth control pills.

A contemporary example of a modern day inventor is Lonnie George Johnson, an engineer. Johnson invented the Super Soaker water gun, which was the top-selling toy in the United States in 1991 and 1992. In 1980 Johnson formed his own law firm and licensed the Super Soaker water gun to Larami Corporation. Two years later the Super Soaker generated over $200 million in retail sales and became the best selling toy in America. Larami Corporation was eventually purchased by Hasbro, the second largest toy manufacturer in the world. Over the years, Super Soaker sales have totaled close to one billion dollars. Johnson reinvested a majority of his earnings from the Super Soaker into research and development for his energy technology companies – "It's who I am, it's what I do." Currently, Johnson holds over 80 patents, with over 20 more pending, and is the author of several publications on spacecraft power systems.

Inventors and scientists

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Note: this table is viewable as a timeline when clicking on the sort symbol next to 'Life'.

Name	Life	Occupation	Inventions/Accomplishments	Refs
Amos, Harold	1918–2003	Microbiologist	First African-American department chair at Harvard Medical School
Alcorn, George Edward, Jr.	1940–	Physicist Inventor	Invented a method of fabricating an imaging X-ray spectrometer
Andrews, James J.	1930–1998	Mathematician	Put forth the Andrews–Curtis conjecture in group theory with Morton L. Curtis, still unsolved
Leonard C. Bailey	1890–1976	Inventor	Folding bed
Ball, Alice Augusta	1892–1916	Chemist	Extracted chaulmoogra oil for the treatment of Hansen's disease (leprosy).
Banneker, Benjamin	1731–1806	Mathematician Astronomer Surveyor Clockmaker Author Farmer	Wooden clock (1753). Assisted in survey of the original boundaries of the District of Columbia (1791). Authored almanac and ephemeris (1792–1797)
Banyaga, Augustin	1947–	Mathematician	Work on diffeomorphisms and symplectomorphisms
Bashen, Janet	1957–	Inventor Entrepreneur Professional Consultant	First African-American woman to receive a patent for a web-based software invention. The invention, LinkLine, is an Equal Employment Opportunity case management and tracking software.
Bath, Patricia	1942–	Ophthalmologist	First African-American female physician to receive a patent for a medical invention. Inventions relate to cataract surgery and include the Laserphaco Probe, which revolutionized the industry in the 1980s, and an ultrasound technique for treatment.
Beard, Andrew	1849–1921	Farmer Carpenter Blacksmith Railroad worker Businessman Inventor	Janney coupler improvements Invented the car device#594,059 dated November 23, 1897 Rotary engine patent #478,271 dated July 5, 1892
Bell, Earl S.	1977–	Inventor Entrepreneur Architect Industrial Designer	Invented Chair With Sliding Skin (2004), and the Quantitative Display Apparatus (2005)
Benjamin, Miriam	1861–1947	Inventor Educator	Invented "Gong and Signal Chair for Hotels". Second African-American woman to receive a patent.
Berry, Leonidas	1902–1995	Gastroenterologist	Gastroscope pioneer
Bharucha-Reid, Albert T.	1927–1985	Mathematician Statistician	Probability theory and Markov chain theorist
Black, Keith	1957–	Neurosurgeon	Brain tumor surgery and research
Blackwell, David	1919–2010	Mathematician Statistician	First proposed the Blackwell channel model used in coding theory and information theory; one of the eponyms of the Rao–Blackwell theorem, which is a process that significantly improves crude statistical estimators.
Blair, Henry	1807–1860	Inventor	Second black inventor to issue a patent Invented early spark plug
Boahen, Kwabena	19xx–	Bioengineer	Silicon retina able to process images in the same manner as a living retina
Boone, Sarah	1832–1905	Inventor	Ironing board allowing sleeves of women's garments to be ironed more easily
Bouchet, Edward	1852–1918	Physicist	First African-American to receive a Ph.D. in any subject. Received physics doctorate from Yale University in 1876.
Bowman, James	1923–2011	Physician	Pathologist and geneticist; Professor Emeritus Pritzker School of Medicine; first tenured African-American professor at the University of Chicago Division of Biological Sciences.
Boykin, Otis	1920–1982	Inventor Engineer	Artificial heart pacemaker control unit.
Brady, St. Elmo	1884–1966	Chemist	Published three scholarly abstracts in Science and also collaborated on a paper published in Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry.
Branson, Herman	1914–1995	Physicist Educator	Protein structure research
Brooks, Charles	1865– ?	Inventor	Street sweeper truck and a type of paper punch
Brooks, Phil	19xx–	Inventor	First U.S. Patent for a disposable syringe
Henry Brown	1832– ?	Inventor	Invented fire safe
Brown, Oscar E.	18xx– ?	Inventor	Received a patent for an improved horseshoe
Burr, John Albert	18xx– ?	Inventor	Rotary-blade lawn mower patent
Cardozo, P. William	1905–1962	Pediatrician	Sickle cell anemia studies. In October 1937, he published "Immunologic Studies in Sickle Cell Anemia" in the Archives of Internal Medicine; many of the findings are still valid today.
Carson, Ben	1951–	Pediatric Neurosurgeon	Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University First surgeon to successfully separate craniopagus twins
Carver, George Washington	1865–1943	Botanical researcher	Discovered hundreds of uses for previously useless vegetables and fruits, principally the peanut
Charles W. Chappelle	1872-1941	electrician, construction, international businessman, and aviation pioneer	Designed long distance flight airplane. C.W. Chappelle was the only African-American to invent and display the airplane at the 1911 First Industrial Air Show held in conjunction with the Auto Show at Grand Central Palace in Manhattan in New York City. C.W. Chappelle was also the president of the African Union Company, Inc.	,
Chappelle, Emmett	1925–	Scientist and researcher	Valuable contributions to several fields: medicine, biology, food science, and astrochemistry
Clark, Mamie	1914–2005	Psychologist	Conducted 1940s experiments using dolls to study children's attitudes about race.
Clark, Kenneth	1917–1983	Psychologist	First Black president of the American Psychological Association
Crosthwait, David, Jr.	1898–1976	Research engineer	Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Received some 40 U.S. patents relating to HVAC systems.
Dabiri, John	1980-	Biophysicist	Expert on jellyfish hydrodynamics and designer of a vertical-axis wind farm adapted from schooling fish.
Daly, Marie Maynard	1921–2003	Chemist	First black American woman with a Ph.D. in chemistry.
Dean, Mark	1957–	Computer scientist	Led the team that developed the ISA bus, and led the design team responsible for creating the first one-gigahertz computer processor chip.
Drew, Charles	1904–1950	Medical researcher	Developed improved techniques for blood storage
Du Chaillu, Paul	1831–1903	Zoologist Explorer Anthropologist	Explorer who was the first modern European outsider to confirm the existence of gorillas, and later the Pygmy people of central Africa. Identified as white throughout life, but his mother was a Réunionnais mulatto. Settled in America and considered it his country by adoption. The full aspects of his ancestry were not uncovered until 1979, and are still little known today.
Easley, Annie	1933–2011	Computer scientist	Work at the Lewis Research Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
Ellis, Clarence "Skip"	1943–	Computer scientist	First African American with a Ph.D. in Computer Science Software inventor including OfficeTalk at Xerox PARC
Ezerioha, Bisi	1972–	Automotive engineer	Drag racing engineer and driver
Ferguson, Lloyd Noel	1918–2011	Chemist Educator	Chemistry doctorate, first received (1943, University of California, Berkeley)
Fryer, Roland G., Jr.	1977–	Economist Social scientist Statistician	Inequality studies
Gates, Sylvester James	1950–	Theoretical physicist	Work on supersymmetry, supergravity, and superstring theory
Goode, Sarah E.	1855–1905	Inventor	Cabinet bed invention First African-American woman to receive a patent in the United States
Gilbert, Juan E.	1969–	Computer scientist	Awarded the first Presidential Endowed Chair at Clemson University in honor of his accomplishments
Graves, Joseph L.	1955–	Evolutionary biologist
Greenaugh, Kevin	1956–	Nuclear engineer
Griffin, Bessie Blount	1914–2009	Physical therapist Inventor	Amputee self-feeding device
Hall, Lloyd	1894–1971	Chemist
Harris, James A.	1932–2000		Co-discovered Rutherfordium (element 104) and Hafnium (element 105) at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory
Hawkins, Walter Lincoln	1911–1992	Scientist	Inventor at Bell Laboratories
Hodge, John E.	1914–1996	Chemist
Holley, Kerrie	1954–	Research computer scientist at IBM	Co-creator of Service-Oriented Modeling and Architecture, SOMA and the Service Integration Maturity Model (SIMM)
Jarvis, Erich	19xx–	Neurobiologist	Duke University neuroscience bird songs studies.
Johnson, Isaac	18xx– ?	Inventor	Held patent for improvements to the bicycle frame, specifically so it could be taken apart for compact storage.
Johnson, Lonnie	1949–	Mechanical engineerNuclear engineer Inventor	Invented Super Soaker while researching thermal energy transfer engines; worked with NASA. Holder of over 80 patents
Jones, Frederick McKinley	1893–1961	Inventor	Invented refrigerated truck systems
Julian, Percy	1899–1975	Chemist	First to synthesize the natural product physostigmine; earned 130 chemical patents; lauded for humanitarian achievements.
Just, Ernest	1883–1941	Woods Hole Marine Biology Institute Biologist	Provided basic and initial descriptions of the structure–function–property relationship of the plasma membrane of biological cells.
Kittles, Rick	1967–	Geneticist	Work in tracing the ancestry of African Americans via DNA testing
Kountz, Samuel L.	1930–1981	Transplant surgeon Researcher	Organ transplantation pioneer, particularly renal transplant research and surgery. Author or co-author of 172 articles in scientific publications.
Latimer, Lewis	1848–1928	Inventor Draftsman Expert witness	Worked as a draftsman for both Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison. He became a member of Edison's Pioneers and served as an expert witness in many light bulb litigation lawsuits. Invention of the Water closet is also said to be invented by Lewis.
Lawson, Jerry	1940–2011	Computer engineer	Designer of Fairchild Channel F, the first programmable ROM cartridge-based video game console
Lee, Raphael Carl	1949–	Surgeon Biomedical engineer	Paul and Aileen Russell Professor, Pritzker School of Medicine; MacArthur Fellow, Searle Scholar, Founder and Chairman, Avocet Polymer Technologies, Inc.; Founder and Chairman, Renacyte BioMolecular Technologies, Inc; Discovered use of surfactant copolymers as molecular chaperones to augment endogenous injury repair mechanisms of living cells. Holder of many patents covering scar treatment therapies, tissue engineered ligaments, brain trauma therapies, protective garments.
Lynk, Beebe Steven	1872–1948	Chemist	Teacher at West Tennessee University
Mahoney, Mary	1845-1926	Nurse	First African American to study and work as a professionally trained nurse in the United States
Matzeliger, Jan	1852–1889	Inventor	Shoe assembly Machine
McBay, Henry	1914–1995	Chemist	His discoveries allowed chemists around the world to create inexpensive peroxide compounds
McCoy, Elijah	1844–1929	Inventor	Invented a version of the automatic lubricator for steam engines,McCoy learned a great deal of his skills from a mechanical apprenticeship when he was age fifteen .
McLurkin, James	1972–	Roboticist
McWhorter, John	1965–	Linguist	Specializes in the study of creole language formation
Montgomery, Benjamin	1819–1877	Inventor	Designed a steam operated propeller to provide propulsion to boats in shallow water
Moore, Willie Hobbs	1934-1994	Physicist	Willie Hobbs Moore was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in Physics (University of Michigan Ann Arbor 1972) on vibrational analysis of secondary chlorides.
Mensah, Thomas	1950--	Inventor
Nmezi, Murphy	1955–	Physician/Biostatistician	Advances in Path Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling
Nriagu, Jerome	1944–	Geochemist	Studies toxic metals in the environment. Originator of the lead poisoning thesis of the decline of the Roman Empire
Ogbu, John Uzo	1939–2003	Anthropologist	Ethnic studies in education and economics
Olukotun, Kunle	19xx–	Computer scientist	Early advocate and researcher of multi-core processors
Oyekan, Soni	1946–	Chemical engineer	Inventions in oil refining
Poindexter, Hildrus	1901–1987	Bacteriologist Epidemiologist	Work on the epidemiology of tropical diseases including malaria
Petters, Arlie	1964–	Physicist	Work on the mathematical physics of gravitational lensing
Quarterman, Lloyd Albert	1918–1982	Scientist Fluoride Chemist	Manhattan Project, worked with Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi
Renfroe, Earl	1907–2000	Orthodontist
Rillieux, Norbert	1806–1894	Engineer Inventor	Inventor of the multiple-effect evaporator
Robinson, Larry	1957–	Environmental chemist	Investigated possible role of arsenic in the death of Zachary Taylor. Interim president of Florida A&M University.
Russell, Jesse	1948–	Engineer Inventor	Wireless communications engineer
Sammons, Walter	1890–1973	Inventor	Patent for hot comb
Sowell, Thomas	1930–	Economist Social scientist	Economist, social theorist and political philosopher
Steele, Claude	1946–	Psychologist Social scientist	Stereotype threat studies
Stiff, Lee	1941–	Mathematician	President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics from 2000 to 2002
Snyder, Window	1976–	Computer engineer	Security engineer at Microsoft, Mozilla, and Apple
Temple, Lewis	1800–1854	Inventor, Blacksmith, abolitionist	Inventor of the toggling whaling harpoon head.
Thomas, Vivien	1910–1985	Surgical technician	Blue baby syndrome treatment in the 1940s
Turner, Charles Henry	1867–1923	Zoologist	First person to prove that insects can hear and can distinguish pitch, that cockroaches can learn by trial and error, and that honeybees can see color. First African-American to receive a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.
Tyree, Bernadette	19xx–	Biochemist	Program Director at National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
Tyson, Neil deGrasse	1958–	Astronomer	Researcher and popular educator in astronomy and the sciences
Walker, Arthur B. C., Jr.	1936–2001	Astronomer	Developed normal incidence multilayer XUV telescopes to photograph the solar corona
Walker, C. J.	1867–1919	Inventor	Created black cosmetic products.
Washington, Warren M.	1936–	Atmospheric scientist	Former chair of the National Science Board
West, James E.	1931–	Acoustician Inventor	Co-developed the foil electret microphone
Wilkins, J. Ernest, Jr.	1923–2011	Mathematician Engineer Nuclear scientist	Entered University of Chicago at age 13, PhD at 19, worked on the Manhattan Project, wrote over 100 scientific papers, helped recruit minorities into the sciences.
Williams, Daniel	1856–1931	Surgeon	Performed the first successful open-heart surgery in the United States
Williams, Scott W.	1943–	Mathematician
Williams, Walter E.	1936–	Economist Social scientist
Woods, Granville	1856–1910	Inventor	Invented the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph
Wright, Jane C.	1919–2013	Cancer Research and Surgeon	Noted for her contributions to chemotherapy and for pioneering the use of the drug methotrexate to treat breast cancer and skin cancer
Wright, Louis T.	1891–1952	Surgeon	Led team that first used Aureomycin as a treatment on humans
Young, Roger Arliner	1899–1964	Zoologist	First African-American woman to receive a doctorate degree in zoology

See also

• History of United States patent law
• Lemelson–MIT Prize
• NASA spinoff
• National Inventors Hall of Fame
• Science and technology in the United States
• Technological and industrial history of the United States
• Timeline of United States discoveries
• Timeline of United States inventions
• United States patent law
• United States Patent and Trademark Office
• Yankee ingenuity

References

Footnotes

Citations

External links

• The Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences
• The Black Inventor Online Museum
• LittleAfrica.com website