Minority Engineers and
Inventors
Juan De la Cierva (Sept. 21, 1895 – Dec. 9, 1936)
 Spanish Civil Engineer
 Known for his invention of
the Autogyro
 His invention was later
utilized in the development
of the helicopter
Mario Molina (March 9, 1943 – Present)
 Holds a doctoral degree in Chemistry
 Awarded the Nobel Price in 1995 for
Chemistry
 Awarded for his earlier work his work
on explaining the role of CFC’s and
the depletion of the ozone layer
 First and only Mexican to receive the
Nobel Prize for Chemistry
Ellen Ochoa (May 10, 1959 – Present)
 May 10, 1958 - Present
 Doctorate in Electrical Engineering
 First U.S. Hispanic women in
space
 Spent 40d 19h 37m in space
 Co-inventor on three patents
 Optical inspection system
 Optical object recognition
method
 Method for removing noise from
images
Luis Walter Alvarez (June 13, 1911 – Sept. 1,
1988)
 Doctorate of Physics
 Worked on the Manhattan Project
 Received the Nobel Prize for Physics in
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1968
Invented the synchrotron
Invented a system to help planes land
safely in low visibility conditions
With his son, proposed the asteroidimpact theory which explains the
extinction of the dinosaurs
Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of
Fame in 1978
Severo Ochoa (Sept. 24, 1905 – Nov. 1, 1993)
 Spanish-American Biologist
 New York University School of
Medicine
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Assistant Professor of
Biochemistry
Professor of Pharmacology
Professor of Biochemistry
Chairman of the Department of
Biochemistry
 Received the 1959 Nobel Prize in
Psychology or Medicine for work on
synthesis of RNA
 Recipient of the U.S. Medal of
Science in 1959
Mae Jemison MD (Oct. 17, 1956 – Present)
 Chemical engineer, scientist,
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physician, teacher and astronaut
B.S. in Chemical Engineering and
doctorate in Medicine
First African American female to
go into space
Spent 190 h 30 min 23 s in space
Founded The Jemison Group,
Inc. which develops technologies
to benefit the developing world
Sarah Goode (1850 - ?)
 First African American women to
be granted a patent
 Invented the cabinet bed which
is also the first “hide-away” bed
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A bed that folded up and could
be used as a cabinet or a desk
 Started a furniture store in New
York City
Madame C. J. Walker
(Dec. 23, 1867 – May 25, 1919)
 Founded the Madam C.J. Walker
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Manufacturing Company
The Company sells hair care and
cosmetics
It became the largest business
owned by an African American in
the United States
She also became America’s first
self-made women millionaire
Prominent women’s and African
American’s rights activist
Shirley Ann Jackson (Aug. 5, 1946 – Present)
 Holds a doctorate in Physics
 First African-American woman to
earn a doctorate degree from MIT
 Appointed Chairman of the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(first African American Women to be
appointed this position)
 Inducted into the National Women's
Hall of Fame in 1998
 Jackson became and is currently the
18th president of Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute
Katherine G. Johnson (Aug. 26, 1918 – Present)
 Holds degrees in French and Mathematics
 Began working for NASA and was transferred
to the flight research program
 Helped plot the navigational paths for both
manned and unmanned missions
 John Glenn’s first flight into space
 Neil Armstrong’s landing and moon walk
 Earth Resources Satellite
 Recipient of the Group Achievement Award,
NASA's Lunar Spacecraft and Operations
 Honorary Doctor of Laws from the State
University of New York
Archibald Alexander (1888 - 1958)
 Degree in Civil Engineering
 Formed a general contracting firm responsible
for….
 The heating plant and power station for the
University of Iowa
 A sewage treatment plant in Grand Rapids,
Michigan
 An airfield in Tuskegee, Alabama
 Tidal Basin Bridge in Washington, D.C
 K Street Freeway
 Appointed first Republican Territorial Governor
of the Virgin Islands by President Eisenhower
David Crosthwait, Jr.
(May 27, 1989 – 1976)
 Holds a Masters of Engineering
 Considered an authority on heat
transfer, ventilation and air conditioning
 Received 39 patents relating to heating,
ventilation, refrigeration, and air
conditioning systems
 Responsible for designing the heating
system for Radio City Music Hall,
Rockefeller center in New York City
 Granted an honorary doctoral degree
from Purdue University
Meredith C. Gourdine
(Sept. 26, 1929 – Nov. 20, 1998)
 Doctorate in Engineering Science
 Pioneered the research of
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electrogasdynamics
Established Gourdine Laboratories, a
multi-million dollar research laboratory
Responsible for term “Incineraid:” aiding
in the removal of smoke from buildings
successfully converted natural gas to
electricity for everyday use
Holds More than 70 patents for his
various inventions
Luis Howard Latimer (Sept. 4, 1848 – 1928)
 Served in the Civil War
 Three patented inventions
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Better light filament manufactures
New support for arc lights
Better way to attach the bulb filament to
the wires
 Unpatented inventions include improved
designs for almost all equipment and steps
involved in the lampmaking process
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Better oven to bake the filaments
Glassblowing equipment
Better light socket and switch
 Founding member of the Edison Pioneers
Frederick McDonald Massiah
(December 12, 1886 - July 7, 1975)
 Degree in Civil Engineering
 Established a construction business
 Among the first successful Black contracting
engineers in the country
 Accomplishments
 Elliptical dome of the Ascension of Our
Lord Church
 William Donner X-Ray Laboratory
 Sewage disposal plant in Trenton, New
Jersey
 Ahead of his time in his use of reinforcing for
concrete
 Awarded the Harmon Foundation Medal for
Engineering
Caldwell McCoy (June 27, 1933 – Nov. 19, 1990)
 June 27, 1933 – November 19, 1990
 Doctor of Science degree in
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Telecommunications
Awarded the Laboratory's Thomas Edison
Fellowship in 1968
Director of the Information Systems Program at
NASA
As program manager for the National Magnetic
Fusion Energy Computer Network
Elected to become a member of the Senior
Executive Service, the highest rank to be
achieved by a civil service employee
Elijah McCoy (May 2, 1843 – October 10, 1929)
 Studied Engineering in Scotland
 Invented an automatic lubricator for
oiling the steam engines of
locomotives, boats, ect.
 Held 57 patents mostly related to
lubrication, but also including a
folding ironing board and a lawn
sprinkler
 Formed the Elijah McCoy
Manufacturing Company
Garret A. Morgan (March 4, 1877 – July 27, 1963)
 Invented a hair straightening
liquid while trying to improve
sewing machines
 Invented the “breathing device”
which was later known as the
gas mask
 Patented the automatic traffic
light
 Started a newspaper called the
Cleveland Call
Percy A. Pierre (January 3, 1939 – Present)
 Doctor of Science in Electrical
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Engineering
Dean of the School of Engineering at
Howard University (1971 to 1977)
Assistant Secretary for Research,
Development, and Regulation for the
U.S. Department of the Army (19771981)
President of Prairie View A&M
University (1983-89)
Vice President for Research and
Graduate Studies, MSU (1990-1995)
Currently a full-time Professor of
Electrical Engineering at MSU
John B. Slaughter (1934 - Present)
 Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences
 Director of the Applied Physics Laboratory of
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the University of Washington (1975)
Appointed Assistant Director for Astronomics,
Atmospherics, Earth and Ocean Sciences at
the NSF (1977)
Chancellor of the University of Maryland
(1982-1988)
President of Occidental College in Los
Angeles (1988-1999)
President and CEO of The National Action
Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc
Virgil Trice (February 3, 1926 – Oct. 31, 1997)
 Master of Science in Industrial Engineering
 Chemical engineer at the Argonne National
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Laboratory (1947 - 1971)
Nuclear waste management engineer for the
Energy Research and Development
Administration (1971 - 1977)
Senior program analyst for the U.S.
Department of Energy (1977 – 1981)
Program Manager for the U.S. Department of
Energy (1981 - 1992)
Until his death he focused his work on Nuclear
Waste Management
O. S. (Ozzie) Williams
(Sept. 2, 1921 – Oct. 31, 1997)
 M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering
 First African American hired by Republic
Aviation
 Group project engineer for Greer Hydraulics,
Inc. (1956-1962)
 Worked for Grumman International,
 Helped develop and produce the
guidance systems for NASA’s Apollo
Space Program
 Became vice president in charge of trade
and industrial relations with emerging
African nations
 Traveled to West African in 1973 to
establish Grumman’s African
headquarters
George Washington
Carver (July 12, 1864 – Jan. 5, 1943)
 Masters of Science in Agricultural Science
 Directed the department of agriculture at
Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute
(1896)
 As a result of exhaustion of Southern Farms
 Developed 300 derivative products from
peanuts
 Developed 118 from sweet potatoes
 This improved demand so farmers could
get nitrogen back into the soil and sell the
crop because of increased demand
 Donated his life savings to the establishment of
the Carver Research Foundation
 Produced dyes of 500 different shades during
WW2 to replace textile dyes formerly
purchased from Europe
Santiago Ramón y Cajal
(May 1, 1852 – Oct. 17, 1934)
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Spanish histologist, physician and Nobel laureate
Obtained the degree of Doctor of Medicine
Director of the Zaragoza Museum (1879)
University Professor at Valencia (1881)
Director of the National Institute of Hygiene
(1899)
 Put forth many theories on neurons and electrical
synapses
 Shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or
Medicine in 1906
 Founder of the Laboratorio de Investigaciones
Biológicas (1922)
 Later named Instituto Cajal
 Published more than 100 articles in French and
Spanish scientific periodicals
Carlos Finlay (Dec. 3, 1833 – Aug. 20, 1915)
 Degree in Medicine
 Opened a medical practice in Havana,
Cuba
 Developed theories on weather conditions
and yellow fever
 Was the first to theorize that the
mosquito was a carrier of yellow fever
 This discovery helped in the
construction of the Panama Canal
 Chief health officer of Cuba
(1902 -1909)
 A monument called El Obelisco was built in
Havana in the shape of a syringe to honor
Dr. Finlay
Baruj Benacerraf (Oct. 29, 1920 – Present)
 Venezuelan-American Immunologist
 Doctor of Medecine
 Researcher at Columbia University College
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of Physicians and Surgeons (1948–50)
Research in Paris (1950–1956)
New York University (1956–68)
National Institutes of Health (1968–70)
Harvard University (1970–91)
Shared the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology
or Medicine
 Discovery of the immune response
genes that are responsible for
transplant rejection
Received the National Medal of Science
(1990)
Granville T. Woods
(April 23, 1856 – Jan. 30, 1910)
 1887, he patented devices for wireless
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induction telegraphy
1889, he filed his first patent for an improved
steam-boiler furnace
Patented an apparatus which was a
combination of a telephone and a telegrap
called a “telegraphony” (1850)
Developed the concept of a third raid for
trains which is used today in the subway
Developed a safe and inexpensive dimmer
switch for theaters
Dr. Patricia E. Bath (Nov. 4, 1942 – Present)
 Medical Doctorate
 First African-American woman surgeon at the
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University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
Medical Center.
First woman faculty member of the UCLA
Jules Stein Eye Institute
First African-American woman to receive a
patent for a medical invention
 She developed a laser device to remove
cataracts - “Laserphaco Probe” (1988)
First woman program director of a
postgraduate training program in the United
States
Also the first woman chair of an
ophthalmology department (1983 to 1986)
founded the American Institute for the
Prevention of Blindness and serves as the
organization's president
Otis Boykin (Aug. 20, 1920 – 1982)
 Attended Fisk University and Illinois Institute of
Technology (1946-47)
 Developed a type of resistor used in
computers, radios, television sets, and a
variety of electronic devices
 Responsible for inventing the electrical device
used in
 Guided missiles,
 IBM computers,
 Also 26 other electronic devices
 His resistor designs reduced the cost of
producing electronic controls for radio and
television, for both military and commercial
applications
Jan Ernst Matzeliger
(Sept. 15, 1852 – Aug. 24, 1889)
 Invented a shoe-lasting machine and patented
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his invention in 1883
Before the invention, shoes were produced in a
factory at a rate of 40-50 pairs a day
Using the invention, shoe production increased
to between 150 to 700 pairs of shoes a day
In addition to production, As a result of this
invention shoe prices were cut in half across
the nation
This invention laid the foundation of the shoe
industry in the United States and made Lynn,
Massachusetts the shoe capital of the world
References
 www.nobelprize.org
 www.aaregistry.com
 www.sce.com
 www.math.buffalo.edu
 www.infoplease.com