Thread by @cenmag

This month, in honor of Black History Month, we wanted to highlight 17 Black chemists you might have missed in class:

Winifred Burks-Houck was an environmental organic chemist and the first woman president of @NOBCChE. During her work at @Livermore_Lab she minimized threats to worker safety and limited the lab’s environmental impact. Learn more about her at ow.ly/UEyh50DnQEo #BlackInSTEM

Charles Drew, better known as the father of the blood bank, found that blood could be preserved longer once the plasma and the red blood cells were separated. A well-timed finding, since WWII was breaking out in Europe. Read more about Drew at ow.ly/CB5e50DnQOL #BlackInChem

James Andrew Harris played a key role in the discovery of two elements. During his time @BerkeleyLab in the ’60s, Harris and his team discovered two elements: 104, rutherfordium, and 105, dubnium. Learn more about Harris at ow.ly/iVoh50DnR1D #BlackInChem #BlackInSTEM

Angie Turner King was a prominent chemist educator in a period when few women—let alone Black women—were scientists. She built a successful career and mentored many accomplished scientists. Read more about King at ow.ly/H5oC50DnR7R #BlackInSTEM #WomenInSTEM #ChemEd

Josephine Silone Yates: In addition to being a chemist, she was a writer and a civil rights activist. She became the first Black certified teacher in Rhode Island and was the first Black woman to lead a college science department. Learn more about Yates at ow.ly/vHoe50DnRla

Alice Ball was the first Black woman to receive a chemistry degree from the University of Hawaii. She isolated the chaulmoogra plant’s active ingredient, which became a standard treatment for leprosy. Learn more about Ball at ow.ly/CnOW50DnRsS #BlackInChem #WomenInSTEM

St. Elmo Brady in 1916 became the first Black American to earn a PhD in chemistry. He also created the first chemistry graduate program at an HBCU in the US. Read more about Brady at ow.ly/2oZJ50DnRBN #BlackInChem #BlackInSTEM

Marie Maynard Daly was the first Black woman in the US to receive a PhD in chemistry. Her research contributed to understanding histones and how blood pressure led to clogged arteries. To learn about her other contributions, visit ow.ly/P7kz50DnZGl #BlackInSTEM #BlackInChem

Lloyd Noel Ferguson in 1943 became the first Black person to receive a PhD from UC Berkeley. He had a chemistry set in his backyard at Oakland, where he made moth repellent a spot remover! Read more about Ferguson at ow.ly/WVeK50DnRUE #BlackInChem #BlackInSTEM

Bettye Washington Greene in 1965 earned a PhD in physical chemistry focusing on how particles distribute themselves in emulsion. Later that year she became the first Black woman to work at Dow Chemical. Learn more about Greene at ow.ly/qMKh50DnRZn #BlackInChem #BlackInSTEM

Walter Lincoln Hawkins codeveloped a cable sheath for telecommunication cables that extended their lifetime by 70 years, contributing to a worldwide telecommunication expansion. This was only one of his many patented inventions. Learn more at ow.ly/WFG850DnS7e #BlackInSTEM

Alma Levant Hayden was one of the first scientists of color to work at a federal agency. Her research focused on using spectrometry to detect steroids. Read more about Hayden at ow.ly/s9wL50DnScg #BlackInSTEM #BlackInChem #WomenInSTEM

Mary Elliott Hill was an analytical chemist that developed tracking methods for the progress of reactions based on their solubility. Learn more about her career at ow.ly/93xe50DnX5e #BlackInChem #WomenInChem #BlackInSTEM

Percy Lavon Julian developed an 11-step synthesis of physostigmine, a molecule used to treat glaucoma. He also developed an efficient synthesis for steroids. Learn more about Julian’s contributions at ow.ly/5ScM50DnXjZ #BlackInSTEM #BlackInChem

Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. enrolled in the US Air Force soon after graduating in chemistry, and he was selected to become the first Black American astronaut. Read more about Lawrence at ow.ly/rJBW50DnXox #BlackInSTEM #BlackInChem

James Ellis Lu Valle was a chemist and an Olympian, winning the bronze medal in the 400 m race at the 1936 Olympics. He also led the first-year chemistry lab at Stanford University. Read more about Lu Valle at ow.ly/CKHC50DnZXD #BlackInChem #BlackInSTEM

Samuel P. Massie became the first Black person to teach at the US Naval Academy and to chair its Chemistry Department. Learn more about Massie’s contributions at ow.ly/ze0K50DnSQk #BlackInChem #BlackInSTEM