The first African American to receive a doctoral degree in the United States was a scientist. Dr. Edward Alexander Bouchet (1852-1918) was a native of New Haven, Connecticut, who graduated from Yale University's undergraduate school in 1874, and completed his Ph.D. in physics there in 1876.

Several years after graduation, Bouchet was elected into Phi Beta Kappa, becoming one of the honor society's first Black members. He spent most of his career sharing his knowledge with other African Americans as a secondary school science educator.

In the fifty-six years following Boucher's graduation, only twelve other African Americans would earn Ph.D.s in the sciences.

Like most racial disparities in the U.S., the dearth of credentialed African American scientists is rooted in the nation's history of racial discrimination. It is difficult to fully comprehend why the current scarcity exists without briefly reviewing the history of African Americans in the sciences.

Early African American scientists have included people like Benjamin Banneker, whose almanac was heralded by Thomas Jefferson; George Washington Carver, the renowned biochemist; Garrett A. Morgan, inventor of the stoplight and gas mask; and Granville T. Woods, the electrical engineer who invented the third rail upon which many subway systems run. These scientists, had no doctoral training

The existence of credentialed African American scientists in any significant number is largely a twentieth-century phenomenon. In the first half of the century, however, even those who did achieve doctoral degrees often found it difficult to obtain jobs within White-dominated scientific institutions because of racial discrimination.

Overcoming Early Resistance

More than a half century after Bouchet's achievement, Dr. Hildrus A. "Gus" Poindexter became the first African American to receive both an M.D. -- which he earned at Harvard University in 1929 -- and a Ph.D. -- which he earned in bacteriology at Columbia University in 1932 . A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Poindexter, had earned his bachelor's degree at historically Black Lincoln University in 1924 before moving on to pre-medical studies at Dartmouth College and then to Harvard. Even after completing his Ph.D., Poindexter earned a master's degree in public health from Columbia in 1937.

The first doctoral degrees presented by Howard University, the nations' only historically Black research institution, were awarded in the field of chemistry to Dr. Harold Delaney and Dr. Bibhuti Mazumder in 1958. Today, Howard ranks number one among the ten leading institutions of baccalaureate origin for Black science and engineering doctorate recipients. In fact, six of these ten institutions are historically Black institutions (see chart page 16).

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The first African American to become a member of the National Academy of Science, Dr. David H. Blackwell, was not elected into the society until 1965. Blackwell earned his doctoral degree in mathematics at the University of Illinois in 1941. Even with these achievements, by 1972 a cumulative total of only 850 African Americans had earned science doctorates.

Examples of the types of resistance Black scientists have encountered are embodied in the experiences of Dr. Percy Lavon Julian (1899-1975), an organic chemist who completed his undergraduate study at DePauw University in 1920. Even though Julian had graduated at the top of his class, he was denied admission to Harvard graduate school the first time he applied.

Julian worked for two years at Fisk University, a historically Black institution, before applying to Harvard again. He was accepted the second time and completed his master's degree in one year, after which he worked for a short time as a researcher at Harvard. Julian then taught at historically Black West Virginia State College and Howard University before winning a Rockefeller Foundation scholarship to pursue his doctoral studies.

Julian chose the Chemische Institut in Vienna, Austria, as the place to complete his doctoral studies -- in part to escape racism in the United States. He was awarded his doctoral degree in 1931. His doctoral research eventually led him to discover a method for the synthesis of physostigmine, a chemical used to treat glaucoma. He also discovered processes for the synthesis of progesterone and testosterone, as well as synthetic cortisone.

Following his physostigmine discovery, Julian became the first African American hired as the director of research by a major U.S. chemical company. But the Glidden Company of Chicago hired him only after he was denied opportunities to head the chemistry departments of another chemical company and two universities -- including his alma mater, De Pauw -- the basis of his race.

While living in Oak Park, Illinois, Julian's life was threatened on several occasions. At one point, racists even tried to burn down his home, an indignity that was not uncommon for African Americans at that time.

The Female Equation

The history of Black women scientists begins even more recently.

One of the first Black women to become a Ph.D. scientist was Dr. Flemmie P. Kittrell. Born in Henderson, North Carolina, she was the seventh of her parents' nine children. Kittrell completed her undergraduate studies at the historically Black Hampton Institute in 1928, and her doctoral studies in nutrition at Cornell University in 1940.

Kittrell's career included teaching posts at historically Black Bennett College, Hampton Institute, and Howard University. She was also involved in international activities aimed at improving the nutrition of people living in developing nations in Africa and other parts of the world.

The first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in physics graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1973. Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, a theoretical physicist, was mentored by the first African American to earn a full-professorship in physics at MIT, Dr. James Young. Jackson is currently a trustee at MIT and chairs the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The first African American female astronaut, Dr. Mae Jemison, went on her initial mission in space aboard the Endeavor shuttle in 1992. She earned her bachelor's in science at Stanford University and her M.D. from Cornell Medical School, where she specialized in physiology.

Even now, in the latter days of the twentieth century, years pass in which not a single African American earns a doctorate in some scientific fields.

Facts like these illustrate how recent the acceptance of and participation by credentialed African Americans is within the national and global scientific community.

Recent Creeping Progress

"We went through a period in the late seventies that was the peak of production, [percentage-wise], for under-represented minorities in science and engineering," says Dr. Luther Williams, assistant director of education and human resources at the National Science Foundation (NSF).

"But what happened in the eighties," Williams continues, "was a progressive decline that happened when science and engineering really became critical, almost mandatory, parts of the society. So, at the exact time when we should have had robust production [of African American scientists], we were actually losing."

NSF data show that the decline in production of African American scientists began to subside toward the latter half of the eighties. In 1987, the country produced a total of 133 Black Ph.D.s (includes non-U.S. citizens) in science and engineering disciplines (excluding social, life, and health sciences). Growth has been creeping upward ever since.

By 1995, the country awarded 255 Black doctorates in science and engineering fields. Of those, 203 were African Americans (see chart page 14). The other 52 were permanent U.S. residents of African descent. But these represented only about 2.5 percent of the 10,076 science doctoral degrees awarded that year to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. U.S. citizens represented 10,015 of these science doctoral recipients (see chart below).

And according to a preliminary summary report of the most recent Survey of Earned Doctorates, 283 Black science and engineering doctoral candidates received their Ph.D.s in 1996 -- representing 2.2 percent of the 12,683 science doctoral degrees awarded that year to U.S. citizens and permanent residents (see chart page 13).

Even with this progress, according to a 1996 NSF report on the status of underrepresented populations within the sciences, there are only about 1,000 Black computer scientists with Ph.D.s.; 1,000 Black mathematical scientists with Ph.D.s; fewer than 500 Black physicists with doctorates; 1,000 Black Ph.D. physical scientists; and 1,000 Black engineers with doctoral credentials in today's scientific labor force.

Among African American scientists and engineers working in higher education, this same NSF report estimates there are only about 1,600 working at the nation's research universities -- where the bulk of ground-breaking research takes place and where the majority of public--and private--sector scientific research funding is funneled. And that 1,600 includes social scientists.

These 1,600 science and engineering faculty represent roughly 14 percent of all African American scientists, including those without Ph.D.s, working in postsecondary education, according to the NSF. In contrast, roughly 27 percent of White, 36 percent of Asian, and 18 percent or Latino science and engineering faculty work at research institutions.

It should be noted that roughly 30 percent of all full-time Black faculty work at historically Black institutions and only one -- Howard University -- is classified as a research institution. This, coupled with private industry's aggressive employment of Black scientists and engineers, may account for some of the disparity

Diversity Increasing, But Without Blacks

Blacks, together with Latinos and Native Americans, continue to be grossly under-represented in science fields -- collectively representing only about around 3 percent of the national pool of all people in the field, regardless of degree attainment. In contrast, White women and Asian Americans have made significant advances over the past couple of decades.

The increased presence of foreign-born scholars and researchers in these fields is even more dramatic.

"Nearly all of the Ph.D. growth in recent years has been due to immigrants coming to the U.S. to study on temporary student visas," says Michael Teitelbaum, a program officer of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

The Sloan Foundation is one of the leading private-sector funders of programs aimed at increasing the ranks of underrepresented scientists. Teitelbaum's comment occurred during his address last September to scholars attending the 1997 Graduate Research Education and Training Conference IV, in Leesburg, Virginia. He went on to explain that between 1974 and 1994, the number of foreign students pursing degrees in the sciences nearly tripled.

According to NSF reports, in 1977, people of color represented 13 percent of the overall number of U.S. citizens and permanent residents earning doctoral degrees in science and engineering. Asian students constituted 3 percent of these. Women earned approximately 25 percent of the science and engineering doctoral degrees. That same year, approximately 13 percent of all science and engineering doctoral degrees earned went to foreign students.

By 1993, people of color were garnering 16 percent of all science and engineering doctoral degrees earned by U.S. students. But most of this growth occurred among Asian Americans, who earned 7 percent -- more than double what they had earned in 1977. Additionally, Asian Americans account for nearly all of the increase experienced by students of color.

Women's doctoral degree attainment had reached approximately 40 percent of all science and engineering degrees in 1993. And the number of science and engineering doctoral degrees awarded to foreign students that year jumped to 26 percent.

"The last thing we need to do is get into a battle over immigration," says Dr. George Campbell, president of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. But with 49 percent of Ph.D.s and 62 percent of the post-doctoral appointments in engineering going to foreign-born scholars, he finds it difficult not to be concerned about the pace at which they have surpassed African Americans in the sciences.

Campbell is further concerned by the declining enrollment of African Americans in engineering. This is occurring at a time when African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans constitute roughly 29 percent of the college-age population, but less than three percent of the engineering doctoral recipients.

"It can be concluded from this data that careers in science must look appealing to students coming to study here from abroad," Teitelbaum says. "But one of the questions scientists nationwide are asking themselves is, `How do careers in science look to rational, sensible U.S. undergraduates [of all races]?"'

Indeed, data and anecdotal evidence indicate that many students, African American and otherwise, who are academically prepared to pursue careers in science often opt for careers in other fields where their mathematical skills and scientific knowledge are an asset.

As history has demonstrated -- and as Dr. Luther Williams points out -- the scientific enterprise has learned to function without the participation of African Americans. But at what cost?

In the foreword to a 1996 NSF report, Director Neal Lane recommends an alternate course for the future: "Different perspectives, talents, and experiences produce better ideas and ultimately better goods and services to meet the needs of increasingly diverse markets in the United States and abroad. We need to involve all of the nation's human resources in science and engineering to stimulate creativity, innovation, and change; contribute to the advancement of science and engineering; and foster a scientifically literate population."

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Leading Colleges of Baccalaureate Origin for Black Science and Engineering Doctoral Recipients, 1988-93

Baccalaureate                               Number of
Institution                                  Degrees

Howard University                               63
Spelman College                                 33
Hampton University                              30
Tuskegee University                             28
North Carolina A&T University                   26
University of Maryland                          25
University of Maryland-Baltimore                23
Fisk University                                 23
Harvard University                              23
Massachusetts Institute of Technology           23
University of Michigan                          23

Source: Doctorate Survey Project, National Research Council

RELATED ARTICLE: About the Series

This two-part Black issues in Higher Education series aims to shed light on how some of the leading science and engineering institutions are addressing the scarcity of African Americans in these disciplines -- most specifically in the physical sciences (i.e. physics, chemistry, astronomy, etc.), mathematics, engineering, and technology These are fields where the paucity of African Americans is most acute.

The objective of the series is to explore current trends in science, math, engineering, and technology (SMET) education and to uncover the types of academic environments in which African American science students thrive. To achieve this end, the series investigates trends in recruitment, admissions, retention, graduation rates, graduate school performance, research funding, and faculty development at eight postsecondary institutions. Part one, which appeared in the March 19 edition, examined undergraduate experiences. In this edition, featuring the second part of the series, the focus is on graduate education.

Among the Research I institutions featured in the series are: California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University, and the University of California-Berkeley. The three remaining institutions featured include: Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU), and North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (A&T), and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC).