The contribution of black Americans to the fields of science and technology is barely spoken of. In order to bring some of these faces to light, I have compiled a list of some of the greatest black Americans known for their prominence in STEM.
1. Charles Drew
was the first black American to earn a Doctor of Medical Science degree. His contribution in successfully collecting over 5,500 vials of non-infected blood plasma from over 15,000 people during World War II eventually resulted in the American Red Cross Blood Bank. As he held a position the American Red Cross Blood Bank, he protested against racial segregation in the donation of blood and eventually left the position. Drew is known as the Father of Blood Banks and he is also the first black American examiner for the American Board of Surgery. Like, damn, right?!
2. Mae C. Jamison
Mae C. Jamison is the first black American female scientist. In 1992, she had the opportunity to fly to space aboard the Endeavor. This made her the first woman in space, as well, which is also a nice title to have. She got her Bachelor of Science Degree in chemical engineering from Stanford University and went on to attend Cornell University's School of Medicine. She worked in Sierra Leone and Liberia as a Peace Corps medical officer. She came back to the United States to become an astronaut.
She is also a dancer. Just saying.
3. James West
James West is a physicist and an inventor. As a young child, he was always been interested in the concept of electricity. He went on to study physics at Temple University and joined the Acoustics Research Department at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey as an acoustical scientist. While working in Bell, he and his co-workers invented the electret microphone, which changes sound energy to electrical energy. He retired from Bell Laboratories in 2001 and became a research
professor at the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
4. David Blackwell
David Harold Blackwell is a mathematician and is one of the greatest experts in the game theory. His research in game theory resulted in several theorems named after him including the Rao-Blackwell theory. Today, the Rao-Blackwell theory is an integral part of modern economics. He is the first Black American to be inducted into the the National Academy of Sciences. In several occasions, he has expressed his interest in teaching. Despite his prominence, he was denied teaching positions at Princeton University and UC Berkeley due to racial bias. He, however, worked in historically black colleges and universities including Howard University and Southern University until he took a position at UC Berkeley as a visiting professor in 1954.
