Biography of famous black scientist in short

The first in our series of blogs for Black History Month 2022 looks at the careers and contributions of prominent Black biologists both past and present. 

The Department of Biology is hosting a panel event, 'Being Black in Biology', on Wednesday 26th October 1:30 - 2:30pm. If you would like to attend either in-person or virtually, please register here.

Dr Donald Palmer

Palmer is Associate Professor of Immunology at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), and has worked primarily on how age affects the immune system, as well as how immune markers can be used to identify cancers.

Donald’s main area of research is focused on investigating the cellular and molecular interactions involved in T-cell development. In particular, his group seeks to understand the processes that are involved in age-associated immunosenescence. His group have been investigating the architectural changes in the ageing thymus gland, and made the novel finding of the presence of senescent cells in the thymus of older animals. His group has extended their to interests to the affect of ageing on other components of the immune system, such as Natural Killer cells function in elderly people.

Dr Wangari Maathai

Maathai was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate, and headed the Department of Veterinary Anatomy at the University of Nairobi for around thirty years, before being elected as an MP and Minister for Agriculture. In 2004, she was awarded the

Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1977 she started a grass-roots movement aimed at countering the deforestation that was threatening the means of subsistence of the agricultural population. The campaign encouraged women to plant trees in their local environments and to think ecologically. The so-called Green Belt Movement spread to other African countries, and contributed to the planting of over thirty million trees. Maathai's mobilisation of African women was not limited in its vision to work for sustainable development; she

Sometimes, all it takes is one person to shape the world we live in. With a spark of imagination and a little bit of courage, amazing things can be achieved. Unfortunately, some of those achievements can be overshadowed and innovations taken for granted; history is full of amazing scientists who were often overlooked because of their race and gender.

Influential Black Scientists Who Changed History

Born into eras marked by profound challenges, these eight amazing Black scientists not only broke through the barriers of racism and segregation but also laid the foundations for modern advancements in agriculture, medicine, aerospace, and technology.

Their stories are not just tales of personal triumph but are a testament to the enduring impact of diversity in driving scientific discovery and progress. Explore the lives and legacies of these extraordinary individuals, whose contributions have forever altered the landscape of science and opened new horizons for generations to come.

1. George Washington Carver (1864-1943)

Who Was George Washington Carver?

Born into slavery in 1864, George Washington Carver is best known for his innovations in farming, soil restoration and peanuts. After the Civil War ended, Carver and his older brother James learned to read and write. Though his brother soon turned to farming, Carver focused on his studies and interest in botany — even learning how to mix herbal remedies and nurse plants back to health, earning him the nickname “the plant doctor.”

Where Did George Washington Carver Go to School?

Later on, Carver enrolled in the botany program at Iowa State University, becoming the first African American to earn a bachelor’s and master's degree in science. Impressed with Carver's skills in botany and crop science,Booker T. Washingtonoffered him a prestigious position at Tuskegee University in Alabama. He acce

George Washington Carver was a scientist and inventor best-known for discovering 100 uses for the peanut, but that's only the tip of the iceberg in his remarkable life. He was born to enslaved parents on a Missouri farm at the close of the Civil War and kidnapped by raiders a week later, becoming an orphan in the process.

Carver's former owners, Moses and Susan Carver, eventually located and returned Carver to the farm of his birth. In the years that followed, Susan Carver taught him to read and write because local schools did not allow Black students.

The experience sparked an interest in lifelong learning. Carver self-directed his way through high school and conducted biological experiments of his own design. Eventually, he enrolled in Iowa State Agricultural College's botany program, where he earned a master's degree — and a reputation as a brilliant scientist, teacher and advocate for farmers. He then became an instructor at the famed Tuskegee Institute, working alongside Booker T. Washington.

In addition to developing crop rotation methods for sharecroppers, many of whom were former slaves, Carver designed a horse-drawn classroom to illustrate his methods firsthand. He also pioneered a series of practical inventions that would make farming more profitable and less dependent on cotton, including more than 100 ways to monetize sweet potatoes, soy beans and peanuts with a conversion into dyes, plastics and fuel.

Carver became an adviser on agricultural matters to President Theodore Roosevelt, and in 1916, one of the few American members of the British Royal Society of Arts. Carver died in 1943, at age 78 [source: Biography].

American botanist and inventor (1864–1943)

"George Carver" redirects here. For other people of the same name, see George Carver (disambiguation).

George Washington Carver (c. 1864 – January 5, 1943) was an American agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. He was one of the most prominent black scientists of the early 20th century.

While a professor at Tuskegee Institute, Carver developed techniques to improve types of soils depleted by repeated plantings of cotton. He wanted poor farmers to grow other crops, such as peanuts and sweet potatoes, as a source of their own food and to improve their quality of life. Under his leadership, the Experiment Station at Tuskegee published over forty practical bulletins for farmers, many written by him, which included recipes; many of the bulletins contained advice for poor farmers, including combating soil depletion with limited financial means, producing bigger crops, and preserving food.

Apart from his work to improve the lives of farmers, Carver was also a leader in promoting environmentalism. He received numerous honors for his work, including the Spingarn Medal of the NAACP. In an era of high racial polarization, his fame reached beyond the black community. He was widely recognized and praised in the white community for his many achievements and talents. In 1941, Time magazine dubbed Carver a "Black Leonardo".

Early years

Carver was born into slavery, in Diamond Grove, (now Diamond, Newton County, Missouri), near Crystal Palace, sometime in the early 1860s. The date of his birth is uncertain and was not known to Carver because it was before slavery was abolished in Missouri, which occurred in January 1865, during the American Civil War. His enslaver, Moses Carver, descended from a family of immigrants of German or English descent,^[6