Chemist and academic administrator Gloria Long Anderson was born on November 5, 1938 in Altheimer, Arkansas to sharecroppers Charley Long and Elsie Lee Foggie. As one of six children, Anderson was expected to assist with farm chores, though her parents never let farm duties get in the way of education. Anderson graduated from Altheimer Training High School in 1954...

Biologist, chemist and inventor Sharon J. Barnes was born on November 28, 1955 to Selena and William Jefferson McDonald in Beaumont, Texas. She attended Sisblee High School where she received three scholarships to attend college. In 1978, Barnes received her B.S. degree in biology-chemistry and clinical laboratory science. During her time in college she interned at clinical laboratory science...

Electrical engineer and academic administrator Gary Stephen May was born on May 17, 1964 in St. Louis, Missouri. He was one of two children born to Warren May, Jr., a postal clerk, and Gloria Hunter, a teacher. As a high school student, May participated in a summer program called “Developing Engineering Students” at McDonnell Douglass Corporation in St. Louis,...

Sylvia Trimble Bozeman was born in Camp Hill, Alabama in 1947. She was the third of five children to Horace T., Sr. and Robbie Jones. Although her father worked with numbers daily in his profession as an insurance agent, it was her mother, a housewife, who first cultivated Bozeman’s love for mathematics. In 1964, Bozeman graduated valedictorian of Edward...

Biologist and biology professor George Jones (1942 – ) researched RNA metabolism and the production of antibodies in bacteria. He was named the Goodrich C. White Professor in Biology at Emory University in 1996. Link: http://www.idvl.org/sciencemakers/Bio35.html

Corporate executive Alfred Zollar was born in 1954 in Kansas City, Missouri. He attended Paseo High School in Kansas City and then graduated from Mills High School in Millbrae, California. He went on to receive his M.A. degree in applied mathematics from the University of California at San Diego in 1976. Link: http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/al-zollar

Professor and oceanographer Dawn Jeannine Wright was born on April 15, 1961 to Jeanne and Robert Wright. Wright grew up on the island of Maui, Hawaii, fascinated by stories of adventure and discovery of the open seas. She graduated cum laude with her B.S. degree in geology from Wheaton College in 1983. She then earned her M.S. degree from...

Atmospheric scientist Samuel P. Williamson was born on March 5, 1949, in Somerville, Tennessee to the late Julius Williamson, Jr. and Izoula Smith. He graduated from W.P. Ware High School in 1967. Williamson received his B.S. degree in mathematics from Tennessee State University in 1971 and his B.S. degree in meteorology from North Carolina State University in 1972. He...

A descendant of President Zachary Taylor, world-renowned scientist and educator Welton I. Taylor was born in Birmingham, Alabama on November 12, 1919. Shortly after his birth, Taylor’s family moved to Chicago, where his performance at DuSable High School inspired local African Americans to sponsor his undergraduate education in bacteriology at the University of Illinois. Taylor served in the first...

NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy Captain Winston E. Scott was born on August 6, 1950 in Miami, Florida to Alston J. and Rubye L. Scott. He graduated from Coral Gables High School in 1968, received his B.A. degree in music from Florida State University in 1972 and his M.S. degree in aeronautical engineering with avionics from the U.S. Naval...