Five of the most influential black scientists
SRINIDHI VANGALA – February. The first thing that comes to my mind is Black History Month. Especially after the awareness that the civil rights movement gained last year, it is extremely important to celebrate the African-Americans who have contributed to bettering society. More specifically, it is important to acknowledge all the advancements that have been made by black scientists. African Americans have made significant contributions and have left enormous legacies.They have changed the course of history through various innovations. Whether it is Black History Month or not, it is important to appreciate these scientists that help science progress to another level. Let’s take a look at 5 of the most influential scientists who have made amazing strides in their fields.
- Dr. Marshall Shepherd
Dr. Marshall Shepherd is an international expert in weather and climate at the University of Georgia. He has been making his own weather-collecting instruments since his school days. Today, he uses much larger instruments to understand weather and climate. In his work, Dr. Shepard strives to understand weather events and relate them to current events and climate change.
- Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson
Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson is a physicist who studies particle movement. She has completed research on tiny devices called semiconductors, which can now be found in various types of electronics. She is the president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and is the first African American woman to ever receive a doctoral degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Christine Darden
Christine Darden was an aerospace engineer who worked under NASA for over 40 years. She was the prime person for designing aircrafts wings, specifically those that would help aircrafts travel faster than the speed of sound. She also helped research the sonic boom, the extremely loud noise produced when you reach the speed of sound.
- Dr. Ayanna Howard
Dr. Ayanna Howard is a robot engineer who designs and makes robots using human models. She is now a professor and chair at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and she has greatly contributed to the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics, and computer vision. She has more than 250 peer-reviewed publications in various academic journals and conference proceedings.
- Dr.Beth Brown
Dr. Beth Brown was an astrophysicist. She received her degree in astronomy from the University of Michigan and also worked at NASA. She focused on studying galaxies that produce energy in the form of X-rays.To learn about the galaxies, she would use data from X-ray telescopes.
Copy Editor: Courteney Malin