# 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, math, and medicine.

## History

African-Americans have been the victims of oppression, discrimination and persecution throughout American history, with an impact on African-American innovation according to a 2014 study by economist Lisa D. Cook, which linked violence towards African-Americans and lack of legal protections over the period from 1870 to 1940 with lowered innovation. Despite this, many black innovators have been responsible for a large number of major inventions.
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 from 1991 to 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 North 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." As of 2019, Johnson holds over 120 patents, with more pending, and is the author of several publications on spacecraft power systems.

## List

| Name | Years | Occupations | Inventions / accomplishments | References |
| Adkins, Rodney | 1958– | Electrical engineer | First African-American to serve as a senior vice president at IBM, helped develop IBM ThinkPad | |
| Alcorn, George Edward Jr. | 1940– | Physicist, inventor | Invented a method of fabricating an imaging X-ray spectrometer | |
| Alexander, Archie | 1888–1958 | Civil engineer | Responsible for the construction of many roads and bridges, including the Whitehurst Freeway, the Tidal Basin Bridge, and an extension to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. | |
| Ammons, Virgie | December 29, 1908 – July 12, 2000 | Inventor | Filed the fireplace throat damper patent on August 6, 1974. | |
| Amos, Harold | 1918–2003 | Microbiologist | First African-American department chair at Harvard Medical School | |
| Andrews, James J. | 1930–1998 | Mathematician | Put forth the Andrews–Curtis conjecture in group theory with Morton L. Curtis, still unsolved | |
| Bailey, Leonard C. | 1825–1918 | Inventor | Collapsible, folding bed (For the cabinet folding bed, forerunner to the "Murphy bed", patented by Sarah E. Goode in 1885, see her entry at Goode, this page.) | |
| Ball, Alice Augusta | 1892–1916 | Chemist | Developed a technique to make chaulmoogra oil injectable and absorbable, for the first effective treatment of Hansen's disease (leprosy) | |
| Banneker, Benjamin | 1731–1806 | Almanac author; surveyor; farmer | Constructed wooden clock; astronomer; assisted in the survey of the original boundaries of the District of Columbia; authored a series of almanacs and ephemerides; naturalist: recorded observations on emergences of periodical cicadas and on the behavior of honey bees. | |
| 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, LinkLine, an Equal Employment Opportunity case management and tracking software | |
| Bath, Patricia | 1942–2019 | 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) | [23][24] [25] |
| 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 seed planter and cotton planter. | |
| Boahen, Kwabena | 1964– | 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 PhD 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; collaborated on a paper published in the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry | |
| Brannon, Horace Signor | 1884–1970 | Physician | World War I veteran, military physician who served in the 93rd Infantry Division | |
| Branson, Herman | 1914–1995 | Physicist, educator | Protein structure research | |
| Brooks, Charles | 1865– ? | Inventor | Street sweeper truck and a type of paper punch | |
| Brown, Henry | 1832– ? | Inventor | Invented fire safe | |
| Brown, Oscar E. | 18xx– ? | Inventor | Received a patent for an improved horseshoe |
| Brown, Marie Van Brittan | 1922–1999 | Inventor | Invented the home security system | |
| Burr, John Albert | 18xx– ? | Inventor | Rotary-blade lawn mower patent | |
| Cannon, Thomas C. | 1943– | Inventor | Led a group of engineers who developed the Tactical Optical Fiber Connector (TOFC), the first fiber optic connector deployed under battlefield conditions, and the ST Connector that helped make fiber optic communications affordable. | |
| Cardozo, William Warrick | 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 | |
| Carruthers, George | (1931–2020) | Astrophysicist | Invented ultraviolet camera/spectrograph, which was used by NASA when it launched Apollo 16 in 1972 | |
| Carver, George Washington | 1865–1943 | Botanical researcher | Discovered hundreds of uses for previously useless vegetables and fruits, principally the peanut | |
| Chandler, Edward Marion Augustus | 1887–1973 | Chemist | 2nd African-American to obtain a PhD in chemistry in US and part of the founding faculty of Roosevelt College (now Roosevelt University) | |
| Chappelle, Charles W. | 1872–1941 | Electrician, construction, international businessman, and aviation pioneer | Designed long-distance flight airplane; 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; president of the African Union Company, Inc. | |
| Chappelle, Emmett | 1925–2019 | Scientist and researcher | Valuable contributions to several fields: medicine, biology, food science, and astrochemistry | |
| Chin, Karen | | Paleontologist | Considered one of the world's leading experts in coprolites | |
| Clark, Kenneth B. | 1917–1983 | Psychologist | First Black president of the American Psychological Association | |
| Clark, Mamie Phipps | 1914–2005 | Psychologist | Conducted 1940s experiments using dolls to study children's attitudes about race | |
| Cooke, Lloyd Miller | 1916–2001 | Researcher, industrial chemist | Specialized in cellulose and carbohydrate chemistry; awarded the William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement (1971) | |
| Crosthwait, David Jr. | 1898–1976 | Research engineer | Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; received some 40 US patents relating to HVAC systems | |
| Curtis, James H. "Nick" | 1935– | Researcher, chemist (electronics/specialty chemicals) | Organic ionogen for aluminum electrolytic capacitors, cationic dialdehyde polysaccharides for wet strength paper and others, US Patent Office US Pat #3609467 US Pat #3547423 and others | |
| 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 | Biochemist | First black American woman with a PhD in chemistry | |
| Davis, Chuck | ? -2017 | Inventor and electrical engineer | Inventor of the pROSHI neurofeedback device. | |
| 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 | |
| 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" | 1943–2014 | Computer scientist | First African-American with a PhD 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) | |
| Fox, Brian J. | 1959– | Computer scientist, programmer, technologist | Original author of bash, and developer of the first online banking website in the US. | |
| Fryer, Roland G. Jr. | 1977– | Economist, social scientist, statistician | Inequality studies | |
| Gates, Sylvester James | 1950– | Theoretical physicist | Work on supersymmetry, supergravity, and superstring theory | |
| Gilbert, Juan E. | 1969– | Computer scientist | Awarded the first Presidential Endowed Chair at Clemson University in honor of his accomplishments | |
| Gipson, Mack | 1931–1995 | Geologist | First Black man to receive a Ph.D. in Geology | |
| Goode, Sarah E. | 1855–1905 | Inventor | Folding "cabinet-bed", forerunner of the Murphy bed; first African-American woman to receive a patent in the United States | |
| Grant, George F. | 1846–1910 | Dentist, professor | The first African-American professor at Harvard, Boston dentist, and inventor of a wooden golf tee. | |
| Graves, Joseph L. | 1955– | Evolutionary biologist | | |
| Green, Lisa | | Linguist | Specializes in syntax and the study of African-American English | |
| Greenaugh, Kevin | 1956–2023 | Nuclear engineer | | |
| Griffin, Bessie Blount | 1914–2009 | Physical therapist, inventor | Amputee self-feeding device | |
| Hall, Lloyd | 1894–1971 | Chemist | |
| Harewood, Ken R. | | Molecular biologist | GlaxoSmithKline Distinguished Professor and Director of the North Carolina Central University (NCCU) Julius L. Chambers Biomedical/Biotechnology Research institute and recognized for his work in the fields of cancer biology and cancer drug discovery. | |
| Harper, Solomon | 1893– | Inventor | Invented first electrically heated hair roller and 28 other inventions | |
| Harris, James A. | 1932–2000 | Radiochemist | Co-discovered Rutherfordium (element 104) and Dubnium (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– | Computer scientist | IBM's 1st black Distinguished Engineer and 2nd black IBM Fellow. Inventor of several software engineering techniques including system and methods for locating mobile devices using location and presence information | |
| Jackson, John W. Jr. | 1953–2007 | Electrical engineer, inventor, activist | Co-inventor of imaging x-ray spectrometer. NASA engineer. United States of America Army Civilian Engineer. | |
| Jackson, Mary | 1921–2005 | Mathematician, Aerospace engineer | NASA's first black female engineer | |
| Jackson, Shirley | 1946– | Physicist | Distinguished and pioneering scientific career, achieving several "firsts" as a woman and as an African-American |
| Jackson, William | 1936– | Laser chemist/photochemist, cometary astrochemist at Howard University and UC Davis | Research to unravel the key photochemical sinks of important molecules in planetary atmospheres, in our and other solar systems, around stars, and the interstellar medium. | |
| Jarvis, Erich | 1965– | Neurobiologist | Duke University neuroscience bird songs studies | |
| Jefferson, Roland | 1923–2020 | Botanist | First African-American botanist to work at the United States National Arboretum; played important role in the preservation of Washington, D.C.'s famous flowering cherry trees. | |
| Jennings, Thomas L. | 1791–1856 | Inventor | First African-American to be granted a patent (for a dry cleaning process called dry scouring) | |
| Johnson, Isaac | 18xx– ? | Inventor | Held patent for improvements to the bicycle frame, specifically so it could be taken apart for compact storage | |
| Johnson, Katherine | 1918–2020 | Physicist, mathematician | Made contributions to the United States' aeronautics and space programs with the early application of digital electronic computers at NASA. | |
| Johnson, Lonnie | 1949– | Mechanical engineer, nuclear 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 | |
| Land, Adrian | | Microbiologist | Researcher on Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus | |
| Latimer, Lewis | 1848–1928 | Inventor, draftsman, expert witness | Worked as a draftsman for both Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison; invented the more durable filament, which made the incandescent light bulb last long enough to be useful; became a member of Edison's Pioneers and served as an expert witness in many light bulb litigation lawsuits; said to have invented the water closet. | |
| 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 | Professor at Pritzker School of Medicine; discovered ways to improve injury repair mechanisms of living cells; holds patents related to scar treatment therapies, tissue engineered ligaments, brain trauma therapies, and 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 |
| Martin, Thomas J. | 1842–1872 | Inventor | Awarded a patent in 1872 for improvements to the fire extinguisher | |
| McBay, Henry | 1914–1995 | Chemist | His discoveries allowed chemists around the world to create inexpensive peroxide compounds | |
| McCoy, Elijah | 1844–1929 | Inventor | Invented 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 | | |
| McNair, Ronald | 1950–1986 | Astronaut and Physicist | Specialized in chemical and high-pressure laser physics | |
| McWhorter, John | 1965– | Linguist | Specializes in the study of creole language formation | |
| Mensah, Thomas | 1950–2024 | Inventor | |
| Miles, Alexander | 1838–1918 | Inventor | Invented electric elevator doors that automatically open and close | |
| Montgomery, Benjamin | 1819–1877 | Inventor | Designed a steam operated propeller to provide propulsion to boats in shallow water | |
| Moore, Willie Hobbs | 1934–1994 | Physicist | First African-American woman to earn a PhD in physics (University of Michigan Ann Arbor 1972) on vibrational analysis of secondary chlorides | |
| Morgan, Garrett | 1877–1963 | Inventor | Invented an early version of a gas mask called a smoke hood, and created the first traffic light that included a third "warning" position which is standard today. Morgan also developed a chemical that was used in hair products for hair-straightening. | |
| Nriagu, Jerome | 1944– | Geochemist | Studies toxic metals in the environment; supporter of the lead poisoning thesis of the decline of the Roman Empire | |
| Parker, Alice H. | 1895–1920 | Inventor | Furnace for Central Heating | |
| Petters, Arlie | 1964– | Physicist | Work on the mathematical physics of gravitational lensing | |
| Poindexter, Hildrus | 1901–1987 | Bacteriologist, epidemiologist | Work on the epidemiology of tropical diseases, including malaria | |
| 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 | |
| Ross, Archia | Turn of 20th century | Inventor | A runner for stoops (1896), bag closure device (1898), a wrinkle-preventing trouser stretcher (1899), a garment-hanger (1903), and a holder for brooms and like articles. | |
| Russell, Jesse | 1948– | Engineer, inventor | Wireless communications engineer | |
| Ruth, William Chester | 1882–1971 | Inventor, machinist | Combination baler feeder, self-lifting farm elevator | |
| Sammons, Walter | 1890–1973 | Inventor | Patent for hot comb | |
| Snyder, Window | 1976– | Computer engineer | Security engineer at Microsoft, Mozilla, and Apple | |
| 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 | |
| Temple, Lewis | 1800–1854 | Inventor, blacksmith, abolitionist | Inventor of the toggling whaling harpoon head | |
| Thomas, Valerie | 1943– | Data analyst and inventor | Invented the illusion transmitter | |
| 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 PhD from the University of Chicago | |
| Tyree, G. Bernadette | 19xx– | Biochemist | Program Director, Division of Musculoskeletal Diseases, at National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health | |
| Tyson, Neil deGrasse | 1958– | Astronomer | Researcher and popular educator in astronomy and the sciences | |
| Valerino, Powtawche | 1980– | Engineer | Worked for JPL and NASA at Langley Research Center | |
| Vaughan, Dorothy | 1910–2008 | Mathematician | Worked for NACA and NASA at Langley Research Center | |
| 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 | |
| Ward, Dawn N. | 1973– | Organic chemistry | Creates compounds to treat Hepatitis C | |
| 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 | |
| White, Lisa | | Paleontologist | Geologist and Director of Education and Outreach at the University of California Museum of Paleontology | |
| 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 more than 100 scientific papers; helped recruit minorities into the sciences | |
| Williams, Daniel | 1856–1931 | Surgeon | The first black person on record to have successfully performed pericardium (the sac surrounding the heart) surgery to repair a wound. | |
| Williams, Marguerite Thomas | 1895–1991 | Geologist | First black person to receive a Ph.D. in Geology | |
| Williams, Scott W. | 1943– | Mathematician | | |
| Williams, Walter E. | 1936–2020 | 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 | |
| Yaeger, Ivan | 1967– | Inventor | Inventor of the Yaeger Prosthetic Arm | |
| Young, Roger Arliner | 1899–1964 | Zoologist | First African-American woman to receive a doctorate degree in zoology | |