List of African-American women in STEM fields

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

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.

There are organizations that offer scholarships in STEM in the hopes of attracting more women and minority 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.

A

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	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

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	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
	Aisha Bowe	aerospace engineer and STEM advocate	1986-	Founder and CEO of STEMBoard, a technology company, and LINGO, an educational tech company featuring tutorials and online resources featuring NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace.
	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
	Beth A. Brown	astrophysicist	1969-2008	NASA astrophysicist with a research focus on X-ray observations of elliptical galaxies and black holes. She earned a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of Michigan in 1998, becoming the first African-American woman to do so.
	Dorothy Lavinia Brown	surgeon	1919-2004	First African-American female appointed to a general surgery residency in the racially segregated South.	[1]
	Marjorie Lee Browne	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

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	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	[2]
	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	[3]
	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	[2]
	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
	Kizzmekia Corbett	viral immunologist	1986-	Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Shutzer Assistant Professor at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute since June 2021
	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
	Marian Croak	engineer	1955-	Engineer known for her Voice over IP (VoIP) related inventions. In 2022, she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for her work with VoIP
	Rebecca Lee Crumpler	physician	1831–1895	First African-American woman to become a physician in the United States

D

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	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	[4]
	Christine Darden	aerospace engineer	1942-	Researcher at NASA who pioneered the design of supersonic aircraft	[2]
	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	[5]
	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

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	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	[6]
	Cassandra Extavour	evolutionary biologist		Director of EDEN, a national research collaborative encouraging use of non- Drosophila model organisms	[7]

F

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	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

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	Timnit Gebru	computer scientist	1983-	Founder of the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (DAIR), researcher of algorithmic bias and data mining
	Lisa Gelobter	computer scientist	1971-	Credited with developing the animation technology used to create GIFs. Chief Digital Service Officer for the United States Department of Education during President Barack Obama’s administration.
	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
	Hadiyah-Nicole Green	medical physicist	1981-	Known for the development of a method using laser-activated nanoparticles as a potential cancer treatment.[8][9]
	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

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	Sossina M. Haile	materials scientist	1966-	Developed the first solid acid fuel cells
	Cynthia Hall	nuclear scientist	1922/3? - ?	Worked on the Manhattan Project at the Argonne National Laboratory, where she was one of the few female African American scientists assigned to the project.
	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
	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	[10]
	Ayanna Howard	roboticist	1972-	The first woman to lead the Ohio State College of Engineering.
	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

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	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
	Lisa P. Jackson	chemical engineer	1962-	Served as the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2009 to 2013. She was the first African American to hold that position
	Mary Jackson	mathematician and aerospace engineer	1921-2005	Mathematician and aerospace engineer at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which in 1958 was succeeded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
	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	[11]
	Allene Johnson	chemist	1933–	Educational advisor for the New Jersey American Chemical Society	[12]
	Ashanti Johnson	geochemist and oceanographer		First African American to earn a doctoral degree in oceanography from Texas A&M University
	Ayana Elizabeth Johnson	marine biologist	1980 or 1981-	Co-founder of Urban Ocean Lab, a think tank for ocean-climate policy in coastal cities,[13][14] and the Roux Distinguished Scholar at Bowdoin College.[15]
	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	[16]
	Angie Jones	computer scientist, software engineer and automation architect		Software engineer with 26 patents in the United States and China

K

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	Sinah Estelle Kelley	chemist	1916–1982	Worked on mass production of penicillin	[17]
	Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner	inventor	1912–2006	Holder of five patents, including the adjustable sanitary belt	[18]
	Angie Turner King	chemist and mathematician	1905–2004	Professor of chemistry and mathematics at West Virginia State College	[19]
	Emeline King	automotive designer	1957–	Former automotive designer for Ford Motor Company (1983–2008), author	[20][21]
	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	[22]

L

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	Margaret Morgan Lawrence	pediatric psychiatrist	1914–2019	Researched negative psychological effects of segregation on Black children	[23]
	Janez Lawson	chemical engineer	1930–1990	A NASA human computer. The first African-American hired into a technical position at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). She programmed the IBM 701.
	Katheryn Emanuel Lawson	radiochemist	1926–2008	One of the first few female African American chemists who worked in Sandia National Laboratories	[24]
	Danielle N. Lee	biologist	19??–	Assistant professor of biology at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, best known for her science blogging and outreach efforts focused on increasing minority participation in STEM fields.
	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	[25]

M

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	Vivienne Malone-Mayes	mathematician and professor	1932-1995	Studied properties of functions, as well as methods of teaching mathematics.[26] She was the fifth African-American woman to gain a PhD in mathematics in the United States, and the first African-American member of the faculty of Baylor University.
	Miriam D. Mann	mathematician and human computer	1907-1967	One of the first Black female computers for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)
	Brandeis Marshall	data science, computer science and education	19??-	Data scientist, CEO of DataedX Group, a data ethics and strategy management agency.
	Jessica O. Matthews	inventor and venture capitalist	1988-	Co-founder of Uncharted, which made Soccket, a soccer ball that can be used as a portable power generator
	Melba Roy Mouton	mathematician	1959 - 1973	Mathematician who served as Assistant Chief of Research Programs at NASA's Trajectory and Geodynamics Division in the 1960s[27] and headed a group of NASA mathematicians called "computers".[28] She served as Head Mathematician for Echo Satellites 1 and 2 before becoming Head Computer Programmer and then Program Production Section Chief at Goddard Space Flight Center.

N

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	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	[29]
	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

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	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	[30]
	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)	[31]
	Vivian W. Pinn	pathologist	1941-	Director of the Office of Research on Women's Health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)	[32]
	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	[33]
	Sian Proctor	African American explorer, scientist, STEM communicator, and aspiring astronaut		geology, sustainability and planetary science professor
	Inez Beverly Prosser	psychologist, teacher, and school administrator	c. 1895–1934	One of the first African-American women to earn a Ph.D. in psychology
	Johnnie Hines Watts Prothro	chemist	1922–2009	One of the first African-American nutritionists and food scientists	[34]

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

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	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	[35]
	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	[36]

S

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	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	[37]
	Mabel Keaton Staupers	Nursing administrator	1890 - 1989	Instrumental in implementing the desegregation of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII	[38]
	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

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	Kishana Taylor	Virologist and academic		Co-founder and president of the Black Microbiologists Association	[39]
	Valerie Taylor	computer scientist	1963-	Director of the Mathematics and Computer Science Division of Argonne National Laboratory
	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.	[40]
	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	[41]
	Rubye Prigmore Torrey	chemist	1926–2017	Known for developing a mechanism to decompose hydrogen sulfide, which earned her a place in Sigma Xi	[42]

V

Image	Name	Field(s)	Notes	Ref.
	Powtawche Valerino	mechanical engineer	First Native American to earn a PhD in engineering at Rice University
	Dorothy Vaughan	Fortran Computer Specialist	One of the first female coders in the field who knew how to code FORTRAN and the first African-American Manager at NASA

W

Image	Name	Field(s)	Dates	Notes	Ref.
	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	[43]
	Talitha Washington	mathematician	1974-	in 2023, became the 26th president of the Association for Women in Mathematics
	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	[44][45]
	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	[46]
	Dawn Wright	oceanographer, geographer	1961-	expert in seafloor mapping, marine geographic information systems	[47][48]
	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	[49]
	Roger Arliner Young	zoology	1889-1964	first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in Zoology

See also

• List of Women in Technology International Hall of Fame inductees
• STEM pipeline
• National Society of Black Engineers
• African American women in computer science
• List of African-American women in medicine

Further reading

• Brown, Jeannette E. (2012). African American women chemists. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 143–150. ISBN 9780199742882.
• Carey, Charles W. (2008). African Americans in science: an encyclopedia of people and progress. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. pp. 51–52. ISBN 9781851099986.
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