African American to obtain a Ph.D. in chemistry in the United States. He received his doctorate at University of Illinois in 1916. Eight years earlier, Brady earned his bachelor’s from Fisk University in 1908 at the age of 24, and he began teaching at Tuskegee Insti- tute in Alabama. In1912 he was offered a scholarship to Illinois to engage in gradu- ate studies. Brady’s legacy was his establishment of strong undergraduate cur- ricula, graduate programs, and fund raising develop-
Cincinnati in 1886 and in 1891 received his bachelor of science degree. One year later, he became the first African American to earn a graduate degree from the university. Turner conducted research on animal behavior and published the first paper by an African American in the prestigious journal Science, the aca- demic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Washington D.C. native, Charles Richard Drew, was
Saint Elmo Brady
ment for historically Black colleges and universities. In conjunc- tion with faculty from the University of Illinois, he established a summer program in infrared spectroscopy, which was open to faculty from all colleges and universities. During his time at Illinois, Brady became the first African American admitted to Phi Lambda Upsilon, the chemistry honor society (1914) and was one of the first to be inducted into Sigma Xi, the science honorary society (1915). Biologist Ernest Everett Just was born in South Carolina. But like many Black families in the postwar era, Just looked north for better educational access and opportunity. He gradu- ated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College in New Hamp- shire. Just won honors in zoology, and distinguished himself in botany. However, like Bouchet, he experienced roadblocks and could only teach at a his- torically Black university. While waiting for a science position to open up, Just taught English at Howard University. In 1910, he was put in charge of a new biology department and became head of the Depart- ment of Zoology two years later.
Zoologist Charles
Henry Turner was award- ed a Ph.D. at University of Chicago in 1907. He began attending the University of
www.blackengineer.com
about eight years old when Just was appointed to the faculty at Howard University. While Just’s legacy is his recognition of the role of the cell surface in the development of organ- isms, Drew’s research in the field of blood transfusions al- lowed medics to save thousands of lives during World War II. As the most prominent African-American in the field, Drew protested against the practice of racial segregation in the donation of blood, as it lacked scientific foundation. Bacteriologist Hildrus Augustus Poindexter was born in 1901. He studied the epidemiology of tropical diseases. He attended Lincoln University, PA, graduating in 1924, and then went on to Harvard Medical School in 1929 with a Ph.D. in microbiology. As a noted bacteriologist, Dr. Poindexter became the head of the Medical College at Howard Univer- sity in 1934.
In the 1940s and 1950s Poindexter’s name became syn- onymous with the study of malaria and other tropical diseas- es. This work made him one of the most influential (and most overlooked) scientists of all time. Dr. Poindexter published his autobiography, My World of Reality, in 1973. Ruth Ella Moore, who also worked in the field of bacte-
riology, focused her research on blood grouping and entero- bacteriaceae. She has the distinction of being the first African American woman to receive a doctorate degree in bacteriol- ogy. She studied at Ohio State University where she received a bachelor of science (1926), a master of arts (1927) and a Ph.D. in bacteriology in 1933.
During graduate school she supported herself by teach- ing English and hygiene at Tennessee State College (now Tennessee State University). For her thesis she worked on the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis which causes most cases of tuberculosis.
Moore worked from 1940 at the Howard University Medi- cal College first as assistant professor and later as associate pro- fessor until she retired in 1973. She headed from 1947 to 1958 the Department of Bacteriology being the first woman to chair a department at the college.
Compiled from public sources Charles Henry Turner USBE&IT I WINTER 2013 91
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