 robert henry lawrence, jr. (october 2, 1935 - december 8, 1967) was a united states air force officer and the first african-american astronaut.maj. robert h. lawrence from the u.s. air force's official website ==early years== at the age of 16, he graduated in the top 10 percent from englewood high school in chicago. at the age of 20, he graduated from bradley university with a bachelor's degree in chemistry. at bradley, he distinguished himself as cadet commander in the air force rotc and received the commission of second lieutenant in the air force reserve program. at the age of 21 he was designated as a u.s. air force pilot after completing flight training at malden air force base. at 22, he married barbara cress, daughter of dr. and mrs. henry cress of chicago. by the time he was 25, he had completed an air force assignment as an instructor pilot in the t-33 training aircraft for the german air force. in 1965, lawrence earned a ph.d. in physical chemistry from the ohio state university.chemistry department scholarships from the bradley university website the mechanism of the tritium beta-ray induced exchange reactions of deuterium with methane and ethane in the gas phase he was a senior usaf pilot, accumulating well over 2,500 flight hoursâ2,000 of which were in jets. lawrence flew many tests in the lockheed f-104 starfighter to investigate the gliding flight of various unpowered spacecraft returning to earth from orbit, such as the north american x-15 rocket-plane. nasa cited lawrence for accomplishments and flight maneuver data that "contributed greatly to the development of the space shuttle." in june 1967, lawrence successfully completed the air force flight test pilot training school at edwards afb, california. that same month he was selected by the usaf as an astronaut in the air force's [[manned orbital laborato
1935_births 1967_deaths Accidental_deaths_in_California African-American_military_personnel American_astronauts American_physical_chemists American_test_pilots Aviators_killed_in_aviation_accidents_or_incidents_in_the_United_States Bradley_University_alumni Ohio_State_University_alumni People_from_Chicago,_Illinois Space_program_fatalities U.S._Air_Force_Test_Pilot_School_alumni United_States_Air_Force_officers