# List of African-American women in STEM fields

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The following is a list of notable African-American women who have made contributions to the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
An excerpt from a 1998 issue of Black Issues in Higher Education by Juliane Malveaux reads: "There are other reasons to be concerned about the paucity of African American women in science, especially as scientific occupations are among the most pivotal and highly compensated in the occupational spectrum. Yet, both leaks in the pipeline and gender stereotyping contribute to the under-representation of African American women in the sciences.
Organizations like Dr. Shirley McBay's Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) have done significant work in creating a climate that encourages success in math, science, and engineering for minority students. Yet, efforts like this struggle for funding in an atmosphere that is hostile to affirmative action and to targeted educational opportunities. The evidence to support targeting, though, is in the gaps revealed by the data. Too many gaps reflect the relative absence of sisters in science.
There are organizations that offer scholarships in STEM in the hopes of attracting more women and moronity candidates, like Ralph W. Turner Foundation and UNCF STEM Scholarships for undergraduate education, however many students remain unaware of their availability. The US National Science Foundation also makes efforts to support women in STEM.
Yet, women like Jemison, Jackson, and McBay offer stellar and motivational examples of what can be done in science careers. These sisters in science are true pioneers, women who make it possible for so many others to see work in science as an option for African American women."

## A

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Rediet Abebe | computer scientist | 1991- | First female computer scientist to be appointed to the Harvard Society of Fellows |
| Lilia Ann Abron | chemical engineering, environmental engineering | 1945- | First African-American woman to earn a PhD in chemical engineering |
| Claudia Alexander | geophysics, planetary science | 1959-2015 | Project manager for NASA's Galileo mission and Rosetta mission |
| Gloria Long Anderson | chemistry | 1938- | Pioneer of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, known for work with fluorine-19 and solid rocket propellants |
| Treena Livingston Arinzeh | biomedical engineering | 1970- | Researcher of adult stem-cell therapy |
| Estella Atekwana | Biogeophysics; tectonphysics | 1961- | Dean of the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment at the University of Delaware |
| Balanda Atis | cosmetic science | | Cosmetic chemist at L'Oréal USA who expanded range of cosmetics available for people of color |
| Donna Auguste | businesswoman, computer scientist | 1958- | Senior engineering manager for the Newton personal digital assistant (PDA) |
| Wanda Austin | aerospace engineering | 1954- | Former president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation |

## B

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| June Bacon-Bercey | meteorology | 1932- | Believed to be the first African-American woman to gain a degree in meteorology and known to be the first African-American woman to be a televised meteorologist. |
| Erica Baker | software engineer | 2006- | Engineer and engineering manager in the San Francisco Bay Area, known for her outspoken support of diversity and inclusion. |
| Alice Augusta Ball | chemistry | 1892-1916 | First woman and African-American to receive a master's degree from the University of Hawaii |
| Patricia Bath | ophthalmologist, inventor | 1942-2019 | Pioneered laser surgery to remove cataracts |
| Regina Benjamin | physician | 1956- | 18th Surgeon General of the United States |
| Angela Benton | internet entrepreneur | 1981- | Founder of NewME, Streamlytics, and Black Web 2.0 |
| Carlotta Berry | electrical engineer, professor, roboticist | 1970- | Professor of electrical engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and textbook author |
| Matilene Berryman | oceanographer, lawyer | 1920-2003 | Professor of marine science at the University of the District of Columbia and textbook author |
| Sarah Boone | inventor | 1832-1904 | Second African-American woman to attain a U.S. patent |
| Sylvia D. Trimble Bozeman | mathematician | 1947- | Researcher of functional analysis and image processing, member of Obama's Presidential Committee on the National Medal of Science, founder of Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education |
| Khalia Braswell | computer scientist | 2014-present | an American computer scientist, educator, and technologist. INTech Camp for Girls |
| Carolyn Brooks | microbiologist | 1947- | Researcher in immunology, nutrition, and crop productivity |
| Dorothy Lavinia Brown | surgeon | 1919-2004 | First African American female appointed to a general surgery residency in the racially segregated South. |
| Marjorie Lee Brown | mathematician | 1914-1979 | Third African-American woman to receive a PhD in mathematics |
| Kimberly Bryant | electrical engineer | 1967- | Founder of Black Girls Code |
| Joy Buolamwini | computer scientist | 1989- | Founder of Algorithmic Justice League; Rhodes Scholar, Fulbright fellow, Stamps Scholar, Astronaut Scholar and Anita Borg Institute scholar |
| Ursula Burns | engineer, CEO | 1958- | CEO of Xerox; first black woman to be a CEO of a Fortune 500 company and the first woman to succeed another as head of a Fortune 500 company |

## C

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Alexa Canady | neuroscience | 1950- | First black woman to become a neurosurgeon |
| Carolyn Cannon-Alfred | pharmacologist | 1934-1987 | Professor and co-author of Medical Handbook for the Layman |
| Majora Carter | developer, activist | 1966- | Founder of Sustainable South Bronx |
| Gloria Chisum | experimental psychologist | 1930- | Developed eye protection for pilots; first African-American woman to join the University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees |
| Mamie Phipps Clark | social psychologist | 1917-1983 | Researched self-esteem and self-concept in African-American children, which was used in 1954 civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas |
| May Edward Chinn | physician | 1896-1980 | First African-American woman to graduate from NYU School of Medicine, first African-American woman to intern at Harlem Hospital |
| Yvonne Clark | engineer | 1929-2019 | first woman to get a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering at Howard University, the first woman to earn a master's degree in Engineering Management from Vanderbilt University, and the first woman to serve as a faculty member in the College of Engineering and Technology at Tennessee State University |
| Jewel Plummer Cobb | biologist, professor | 1924-2017 | Researched melanoma |
| Johnnetta Cole | anthropologist, educator and museum director | 1936- | Spelman College's seventh president and the first Black woman to lead the institution |
| Rebecca Cole | physician | 1846-1922 | Second African-American woman physician |
| Bessie Coleman | aviator | 1896–1926 | First African American and Native American woman to hold a pilot license |
| Cynthia Oliver Coleman | chemical engineer | 1948- | First African American female chemical engineer. |
| Betty Collette | veterinary pathologist | 1930-2017 | Sole African-American pathology researcher at Georgetown University School of Medicine in the 1950s |
| Margaret S. Collins | zoologist | 1922-1996 | First African American female entomologist and the third African American female zoologist |
| Carol Blanche Cotton | psychologist | 1904-1971 | Researched cognitive ability in children diagnosed with spastic paralysis |
| Patricia S. Cowings | aerospace psychophysiologist | 1948- | First African American woman scientist to be trained as an astronaut by NASA |
| Rebecca Lee Crumpler | physician | 1831–1895 | First African-American woman to become a physician in the United States |

## D

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Shaundra Daily | electrical engineering and computer science | 2010-present | American professor and author known for her work in the field of human-centered computing and broadening participation in STEM. She is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science at Duke University. |
| Marie Maynard Daly | biochemist | 1921–2003 | First African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry |
| Theda Daniels-Race | nanoengineering, electronic engineering | | Michael B. Voorhies Distinguished Professor in the Division of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Louisiana State University, 19th African American woman to obtain a PhD in a physics-related field in the US |
| Christine Darden | aerospace engineer | 1942- | Researcher at NASA who pioneered the design of supersonic aircraft |
| Geraldine Claudette Darden | mathematician | 1936-???? | 14th African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics |
| Mary Deconge | mathematician | 1933-???? | 15th African-American woman to earn her Ph.D. in mathematics |
| Giovonnae Dennis | electrical engineer | | One of the first African-American women to earn a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, and one of the few at a primarily white institution rather than a historically black institution (HBCU); Founded Software Tailoring |
| Elaine Denniston | Keypunch operator, lawyer | 1939- | Supported the Apollo program as a keypunch operator |
| Helen Octavia Dickens | physician | 1909–2001 | First African-American woman to be admitted to the American College of Surgeons |
| Georgia Mae Dunston | Human Geneticist | 1944- | Professor at Howard University and founder of the National Human Genome Center |

## E

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Annie Easley | mathematician and rocket scientist | 1933–2011 | Leading member of the software development team for the Centaur rocket stage, and one of the first African-Americans to work at NASA |
| Cecile H. Edwards | nutritionist | 1926–2005 | Researcher focused on improving nutrition and well-being of disadvantaged people |
| Joycelyn Elders | pediatrician | 1933- | Second woman, second person of color, and first African American to serve as Surgeon General |
| Lola Eniola-Adefeso | chemical engineer | | Co-founder and chief scientific officer of Asalyxa Bio, researcher of biocompatible functional particles for targeted drug delivery |
| Anna Epps | microbiologist | 1930- | first female dean of the School of Medicine at Meharry Medical College, possibly the first African-American woman with a PhD to lead a medical school |
| Jeanette J. Epps | astronaut and aerospace engineer | 1970- | Second woman and first African-American woman to have participated in CAVES |
| Aprille Ericsson-Jackson | aerospace engineer | 1963- | First African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Howard University and the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in Engineering at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center |
| Brittney Exline | software engineer | | Youngest African-American female to be accepted into an Ivy League school, at 15; United States' youngest African-American engineer |
| Cassandra Extavour | evolutionary biologist | | Director of EDEN, a national research collaborative encouraging use of non- Drosophila model organisms |

## F

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Etta Zuber Falconer | mathematician | 1933-2002 | One of the earlier African-American women to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics |
| Angella D. Ferguson | pediatrician | 1925-???? | Pioneer researcher of sickle cell disease, created the blood test which is still used as the standard for sickle cell detection at birth |
| Evelyn J. Fields | oceanographer | 1949-???? | Fields was the first woman, and first African American to head the NOAA Corps, first woman and first African American to command a NOAA ship, and the first woman to command a ship in the United States uniformed services for an extended assignment |
| Njema Frazier | nuclear physicist | 1974-???? | Nuclear physicist as National Nuclear Security Administration, former staff member for the Committee on Science at the U.S. House of Representatives |
| A. Oveta Fuller | virologist | 1955-2022 | Researcher who significantly advanced knowledge of Herpes simplex virus |

## G

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Timnit Gebru | computer scientist | 1983- | Founder of the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (DAIR), researcher of algorithmic bias and data mining |
| Gloria Ford Gilmer | mathematician | 1928-2021 | First African American woman to publish a non-PhD thesis |
| Sarah E. Goode | inventor | 1855–1905 | One of the first known African American women to receive a United States patent |
| Evelyn Boyd Granville | mathematician, computer science | 1924-2023 | Performed pioneering work in the field of computing |
| Bettye Washington Greene | chemist | 1935-1995 | First African American female Ph.D. chemist to work in a professional position at the Dow Chemical Company, considered an early African American pioneer in science |
| Eliza Ann Grier | physician | 1864–1902 | First African American woman licensed to practice medicine in the U.S. state of Georgia |
| Margaret Grigsby | physician | 1923-2009 | First African American woman to become a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the first woman to preside over a major medical division at Howard University Hospital |
| Bessie Blount Griffin | physical therapist, inventor | 1914–2009 | Holder of multiple patents for assistive devices for amputees, including the first electric device for self-feeding |

## H

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Sossina M. Haile | materials scientist | 1966- | Developed the first solid acid fuel cells |
| Betty Harris | chemist | 1940- | Patented a spot test for detecting TATB in the field, still used by the Federal Department of Homeland Security to screen for nitroaromatic explosives |
| Paula T. Hammond | Chemical Engineer | 1963- | Koch Professor of Engineering, Department Head of Chemical Engineering, Koch Institute of Integrative Cancer Research, MIT |
| Mary Styles Harris | geneticist | 1949- | one of the first African Americans to enroll at Miami Jackson High School; one of the first women to enroll at Lincoln University; founder of BioTechnical Communications |
| Alma Levant Hayden | chemist | 1927-1967 | one of the first African-American women to gain a scientist position at a science agency (The NIH) in Washington, D.C.; may have been the first African-American scientist at the FDA; led the team that exposed the common substance in Krebiozen |
| Euphemia Lofton Haynes | mathematician | 1890-1980 | First African-American woman to earn a PhD in Mathematics |
| Ruby Puryear Hearn | biophysicist | 1940- | Researcher and advocate for maternal, infant, and child health; AIDS; substance abuse; and minority medical education |
| Gloria Conyers Hewitt | mathematician | 1935- | 4th African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics; first African American woman to chair a math department in the United States |
| Mary Elliott Hill | chemist | 1907-1969 | Believed to be one of the first African-American women to be awarded with a master's degree in chemistry |
| Stephanie Hill | engineer | | Vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's Information Systems & Global Solutions |
| Jane Hinton | veterinarian | 1919-2003 | pioneer in the study of bacterial antibiotic resistance and one of the first two African-American women to gain the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine; co-developed the Mueller–Hinton agar |
| Esther A. H. Hopkins | chemist, lawyer | 1926-2021 | Best known for her career as a biophysicist and research chemist at American Cyanamid along with research in the Polaroid Corp Emulsion Coating and Analysis Laboratory |
| Ruth Winifred Howard | psychologist | 1900-1997 | One of the first African American women to earn a Ph.D. in Psychology |
| Fern Hunt | mathematician | 1948- | Leader in applied mathematics and mathematical biology research |
| Yasmin Hurd | neuroscientist | | Researcher of neurological effects of cannabis and heroin |

## I

| Image | Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes | Ref. |
| | Jedidah Isler | astrophysicist | | First African-American woman to complete her PhD in astrophysics at Yale; member of Joe Biden's presidential transition Agency Review Team; founder of Vanguard: Conversations with Women of Color in STEM (VanguardSTEM) | |
| | Nia Imara | astrophysicist and artist | | First African-American woman to earn a PhD in astrophysics at the University of California, Berkeley | |

## J

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Deborah J. Jackson | aeronautical engineer | | First African American woman to receive a Ph.D. in physics from Stanford University |
| Fatimah Jackson | biological anthropologist | | Researcher of human-plant co-evolution and anthropological genetics; first African-American to receive the Charles R. Darwin Lifetime Achievement Award |
| Shirley Ann Jackson | physicist | 1946- | President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; first African-American woman to have earned a doctorate at MIT; second African-American woman in the United States to earn a doctorate in physics |
| Chavonda Jacobs-Young | paper scientist | 1967- | First African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in paper science |
| Mae Jemison | astronaut and physician | 1956- | First African American woman to travel in space |
| Allene Johnson | chemist | 1933– | Educational advisor for the New Jersey American Chemical Society |
| Ashanti Johnson | geochemist and oceanographer | | First African American to earn a doctoral degree in oceanography from Texas A&M University |
| Katherine Johnson | mathematician | 1918-2020 | calculated the trajectories for many NASA missions, including Apollo 11; one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist |
| Tracy L. Johnson | molecular and cell biologist | | Researcher of gene regulation, chromatin modification, RNA splicing |
| Anna Johnson Julian | sociologist | 1903-1994 | First African-American woman awarded a PhD in sociology by the University of Pennsylvania |
| Lynda Marie Jordan | biochemist | 1956– | Third Black woman to receive a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Angie Jones | computer scientist, software engineer and automation architect | | Software engineer with 26 patents in the United States and China |

## K

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Sinah Estelle Kelley | chemist | 1916–1982 | Worked on mass production of penicillin |
| Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner | inventor | 1912–2006 | Holder of five patents, including the adjustable sanitary belt |
| Angie Turner King | chemist and mathematician | 1905–2004 | Professor of chemistry and mathematics at West Virginia State College |
| Emeline King | automotive designer | 1957– | Former automotive designer for Ford Motor Company (1983–2008), author |
| Reatha King | chemistry | 1938– | Former vice president of the General Mills Corporation; the former president, executive director, and chairman of the board of trustees of the General Mills Foundation |
| Ruth G. King | Educational psychologist | 1933– | First woman president of the Association of Black Psychologists |

## L

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Margaret Morgan Lawrence | pediatric psychiatrist | 1914–2019 | Researched negative psychological effects of segregation on Black children |
| Katheryn Emanuel Lawson | radiochemist | 1926–2008 | One of the first few female African American chemists who worked in Sandia National Laboratories |
| Lillian Burwell Lewis | zoolologist | 1904-1987 | First African-American woman to receive a doctorate degree from the University of Chicago |
| Chekesha Liddell | material science and engineering | | Researcher of colloidal materials, and the relationship between micron and submicron length scales |
| Ruth Smith Lloyd | anatomist | 1917-1995 | First African-American to earn a PhD in anatomy |
| Farah Lubin | Neuroscientist | | Prominent researcher of epigenetic mechanisms underlying cognition |
| Irene Long | aerospace medicine | 1951-2020 | First female chief medical officer at the Kennedy Space Center |
| Beebe Steven Lynk | chemist | 1872–1948 | Professor of medical Latin botany and materia medica at the University of West Tennessee |

## M

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Shirley M. Malcom | science administrator | 1946- | head of education and human resources programs at AAAS |
| Harriet Marble | pharmacist | 1885-1966 | Early African-American woman pharmacist and the first in Kentucky |
| Cora Bagley Marrett | sociologist, science administrator | 1942- | Deputy director of the National Science Foundation |
| Pamela McCauley-Bush | Engineer | | First African-American woman granted an engineering Ph.D. in the state of Oklahoma; U.S. Fulbright Scholar |
| Dorothy McClendon | microbiologist | 1924-2013 | Developed methods to protect stored goods, notably fuel, from degradation due to biological agents |
| Linda C. Meade-Tollin | biochemist | 1944– | First female chairperson of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers; may have been first Black woman to graduate from CUNY with a biochem PhD. |
| Juanita Merchant | physiologist | | Contributed to understanding of gastric response to chronic inflammation; chief of the University of Arizona Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology; inaugural member of the NIH Council of Councils |
| Shireen Mitchell | entrepreneur, author, technology analyst and diversity strategist | | Founder of Digital Sisters/Sistas, Inc and Stop Online Violence Against Women |
| Victorine Louistall Monroe | Professor Emerita of Library Science | 1912–2006 | first Black faculty member at West Virginia University |
| Ruth Ella Moore | bacteriology | 1903–1994 | first African-American woman with PhD in a natural science, department head at Howard University |
| Tanya Moore | mathematician | | Founder of Infinite Possibilities Conference; |
| Willie Hobbs Moore | engineering, physics | 1934–1994 | first African American woman to receive a PhD in physics |

## N

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Shelia Nash-Stevenson | Physicist, integration engineer | | integration engineer for the Planetary Programs Missions Office at Marshall Space Flight Center |
| Ann T. Nelms | nuclear physicist | 1929- | Studied persistence of nuclear radioactivity which was cited in reports on nuclear fallout and human health |
| Lyda D. Newman | Inventor | 1885- | Patented novel durable hairbrush with synthetic bristles which is still used today |

## O

| Image | Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes | Ref. |
| | Joan Murrell Owens | marine biologist | 1933-2011 | Described a new genus and three new species of button corals | |
| | Melanie Harrison Okoro | environmental scientist | 2009-present | Okoro is known for her efforts in promoting diversity in STEM fields, and she has held multiple positions in several organizations related to diversity and inclusion. Okoro has served on the council of the American Geophysical Union as an early career scientist and was the Diversity & Inclusion task-force chair. | |

## P

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Carolyn Parker | mathematician, physicist | 1917–1966 | worked on the Dayton Project, the plutonium research and development arm of the Manhattan Project first African-American woman known to have gained a postgraduate degree in physics |
| Jennie Patrick | chemical engineering | 1949– | one of the first African American women in the United States to earn a doctorate in traditional chemical engineering; pioneer in supercritical fluid extraction |
| Hattie Scott Peterson | civil engineer | 1913–1993 | believed to be the first African-American woman to gain a bachelor's degree in civil engineering |
| Clarice Phelps | nuclear chemist | | first African-American woman to help discover a chemical element (tennessine) |
| Vivian W. Pinn | pathologist | 1941- | Director of the Office of Research on Women's Health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) |
| Chanda Prescod-Weinstein | theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, cosmologist, writer | 1982 - | possibly first African-American woman to hold a faculty position in theoretical cosmology |
| Jessie Isabelle Price | veterinary microbiologist | 1930-2015 | isolated and reproduced the cause of the most common life-threatening disease in duck farming in the 1950s |
| Sian Proctor | African American explorer, scientist, STEM communicator, and aspiring astronaut | | geology, sustainability and planetary science professor |
| Johnnie Hines Watts Prothro | chemist | 1922–2009 | One of the first African American nutritionists and food scientists |

## Q

| Image | Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes | Ref. |
| | Lynnae Quick | planetary scientist, planetary geophysicist | 1984 - | Ocean worlds Planetary Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; fifth African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in planetary science; first African American staff scientist in the history of the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, where she worked from 2017 to 2019; Asteroid 2001 SV 291 was renamed Asteroid 37349 Lynnaequick in honor of her work modeling cryovolcanic eruptions and faculae formation on Ceres. First African American to receive the American Astronomical Society's Harold C. Urey Prize which is the highest honor for young planetary scientists and recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of planetary science by an early career researcher. | |

## R

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Mary Logan Reddick | neuroembryologist, biologist | 1914 - 1966 | possibly the first African-American woman scientist to receive a fellowship to study abroad, and the first female biology instructor at Morehouse College |
| Eslanda Goode Robeson | chemist | 1896–1965 | first black head histological chemist of Surgical Pathology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital |
| Gladys W. Royal | chemist | 1926–2002 | One of the early African-American biochemists; part of one of the few African-American husband-and-wife teams in science |

## S

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Antoinette Rodez Schiesler | chemist | 1934 - 1996 | director of research at Villanova University |
| Lyndsey Scott | computer programmer | 1984- | lead iOS software engineer at NGO fundraiser Rallybound; first African American to sign an exclusive runway contract with Calvin Klein |
| Alberta Jones Seaton | embryologist, biologist | 1924-2014 | One of the first African-American women awarded a doctorate in zoology, in Belgium in 1949. |
| Nashlie Sephus | Artificial intelligence engineer | | AI engineer, CTO of startup Partpic (acquired by Amazon) PhD from Georgia Institute of Technology, 2019 Ada Lovelace Award |
| Cheryl L. Shavers | semiconductor engineering and management | 1953- | first African-American Undersecretary of Commerce for Science and Technology |
| Mabel Keaton Staupers | Nursing administrator | 1890 - 1989 | Instrumental in implementing the desegregation of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII |
| Susan McKinney Steward | pediatrician, homeopath | 1847-1918 | the third African-American woman to earn a medical degree, and the first in New York state. |
| Moogega Cooper Stricker | Planetary protection engineer | 1985-20?? | NASA engineer working on Mars 2020 rover. |
| Thyrsa Frazier Svager | mathematician | 1930-1999 | one of the first African-American women to receive a PhD in mathematics |
| Latanya Sweeney | computer scientist | | computer scientist best known for work on k-anonymity |

## T

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Kishana Taylor | Virologist and academic | | Co-founder and president of the Black Microbiologists Association |
| Valerie Thomas | physicist and inventor | 1943- | Inventor of the Illusion Transmitter Overseer of NASA's Landsat program, international expert in Landsat data products |
| Lisette Titre-Montgomery | Game Developer | 1998- | Art Director and Game Developer . Lisette has contributed to some of the industry's highest profile games, including Tiger Woods Golf, The Simpsons, Dante's Inferno, Dance Central 3, SIMS 4, South Park, and Transformers Age Of Extinction for Android and iOS. Her most recent project is Psychonauts 2 with Double Fine Productions. |
| Margaret E. M. Tolbert | chemist and science administrator | 1943- | the first African American and the first woman in charge of a Department of Energy lab |
| Rubye Prigmore Torrey | chemist | 1926–2017 | Known for developing a mechanism to decompose hydrogen sulfide, which earned her a place in Sigma Xi |

## V

| Image | Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes | Ref. |
| | Powtawche Valerino | mechanical engineer | | First Native American to earn a PhD in engineering at Rice University | |

## W

| Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes |
| Chelsea Walton | mathematician | 1983 – | associate professor at Rice University and a Sloan Research Fellow |
| Dawn Ward | synthetic chemist | 1973 – | Chemist creating molecules active against Hepatitis C virus |
| Gladys West | mathematician | 1930 – | work on satellite geodesy models used in GPS |
| Jessica Ware | evolutionary biologist, entomologist. | | work on phylogenomics of insect evolution |
| Desiré Whitmore | laser physicist, science communicator | | work on attosecond X-ray laser systems, senior physics educator at the Exploratorium |
| Marguerite Williams | geologist | 1895 – 1991 | the first African American to earn a doctorate in geology in the United States |
| Geraldine Pittman Woods | science administrator | 1921–1999 | known for her lifelong dedication to community service and for establishing programs that promote minorities in STEM fields, scientific research, and basic research |
| Dawn Wright | oceanographer, geographer | 1961- | expert in seafloor mapping, marine geographic information systems |
| Jane C. Wright | cancer researcher, surgeon | 1919-2013 | pioneering cancer researcher and surgeon noted for her contributions to chemotherapy |

## Y

| Image | Name | Field(s) | Dates | Notes | Ref. |
| | Josephine Silone Yates | chemist | 1859-1912 | one of the first black professors hired at Lincoln University; first black woman to head a college science department; may have been the first black woman to hold a full professorship at any U.S. college or university | |
| | Roger Arliner Young | zoology | 1889-1964 | first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in Zoology | |