Black History Month: Celebrating African American Scientists

Harold Miller

Harold Miller is a U.S. Navy veteran and a retired Air Traffic Controller who became the first African American to serve in that role at the Wichita Tower. He completed a rigorous nine-week training program to master a specialized skill set, launching his career in STEM, and joining the 1-2% of African American Air Traffic Controllers at the time.

Miller was later promoted to a supervisor in the air traffic position in the central region; the first African American to hold that position. Throughout these roles, Miller faced many challenges, cementing the importance of hard work and resilience in being successful. Today, he shares these experiences with the younger generations by mentoring young people and serving faithfully in his church.

Charyl McAfee-Duncan

Charyl McAfee-Duncan impacts society by being a committed advocate of public-art programs; by her contributions to the built environment in public spaces, and the innovation and development of successful programs that influence and uplift the lives of young girls and women architects. As a role model and proactive participant, she imparts to them an appreciation and understanding of the significance and contributions of architecture.

After pre-design studies at Kansas State University, Charyl graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture Studies and went on to achieve her Master of Architecture degree from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2013, Charyl, was recognized for her achievements as an architect and her significant contribution to the profession and society by being elevated to the College of Fellows in the American Institute of Architects. Charyl, her sister Cheryl, and their father Charles McAfee are the only known father-daughters and sister sibling fellows in the history of the AIA. Charyl is the first African American woman Fellow of the AIA in Dallas and the second in the state of Texas.

Charyl McAfee-Duncan, FAIA, NOMAC, is a licensed architect and is the President of McAfee3 Architecture and Design, and is Principal of the Dallas office. Since opening the Dallas office in 1994, Charyl has developed a diverse design and planning portfolio with clients in the public and private sectors for higher education, institutional, transportation, aviation, sports, and recreational facilities. Some of her notable projects are the Science Building at Eastfield College, the COTPA Downtown Transit Center, the Samuell-Grand Tennis Center and Recreation Center, and Fire Station No.44 for the City of Dallas. Her current projects are with DFW Airport, DART on the new Cotton Belt Silver Line, Dallas ISD, and renovations to the Cotton Bowl Stadium at Fair Park.

As a past member of the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, she developed a creative and engaging program, Cookie Box Creations, where young girls build structures out of empty Cookie Boxes and are introduced to careers in architecture, which has continued since 2004. In 2025, Charyl was awarded the Equitable Practice in Architecture in Honor of John S. Chase Jr., FAIA, Paul R. Williams Phil Freelon Changemaker Award for her incredible work to uplift past, present, and future Black architects.

Charyl is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, inc., a member of St. Luke “Community” United Methodist Church, and is happily married to Kenneth Duncan, an Arkansas Razorback, and they are proud parents of Winston and Sydney, and two rambunctious beagles, Boone and Ollie.

Dr. Donald Jackson

Dr. Donald Jackson was a World War II Tuskegee Airman cadet and a dedicated veterinarian in Wichita, Kansas. Born in Kansas City, Kansas, he grew up surrounded by Black role models who inspired him to one day own his own business. Determined to earn his wings as a fighter pilot, Dr. Jackson entered Air Force flight training as part of the Tuskegee Airman program.

Dr. Jackson completed training with the B-25 bomber and was taught by members of the legendary 99^th Pursuit Squadron. He was part of the last group of Tuskegee Airmen, Class 45H, as World War II came to an end. Following his military career, Dr. Jackson entered veterinary school at Kansas State University, where he earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree.

In 1951, Dr. Jackson began working as an assistant to Dr. George Bronson, and in 1957 he opened his own practice, becoming one of the few African Americans to own a business. Dr. Jackson cared for beloved pets for decades at his All Pets Clinic until his retirement in 2001.

Colonel George Boyd

Col. George Boyd was a military veteran and Kansas resident who served for nearly three decades in the U.S. Air Force, first in World War II and later in the Korean and Vietnam wars. He served as an all-weather jet fighter radar intercept officer, squadron commander, and combat management engineer, retiring with the rank of major in 1970.

Boyd was part of the service during the transition from Army Air Corps to Air Force. He later achieved the grade of colonel in the Civil Air Patrol, where he helped establish the Kansas Wing and Department of Civil Air Patrol and served as its Commander and Director.

Col. Boyd also served as the Director of Aviation for the State of Kansas and worked as an executive in several Kansas Corporations. At the national level, he served as controller, a member of the National Board and the National Executive Committee, and as Urban Programs Advisor. He earned two Ph.D. degrees.

Roy Moye III

Roy Moye III is a resident of Wichita, an aerospace engineer and a Grammy-nominated music artist. He is an advocate for introducing the next generation to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and is the founder of STEMusic, which combines music and STEM to interest a diverse range of students in the career field. Moye is a community leader who believes in the power of mentorship and empowering others to chase their dreams. This has led him to serve several STEM organizations and initiatives including the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Heroes Academy and the USA Science and Engineering Festival. He also tours the nation with his STEMusic concerts and keynotes providing inspiration and education for students of all ages.

Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall

Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall are sisters and the co-founders of WorkTorch, a career empowerment platform designed to help underserved individuals find meaningful employment opportunities. They launched the company in 2020 during the pandemic, initially under the name QuickHire, with a mission to bridge the gap in workforce access. Their innovative approach has garnered significant recognition, including raising over $4 million in venture capital, making them the first Black women in Kansas to achieve this milestone. Through WorkTorch, Deborah and Angela continue to empower marginalized communities by providing essential resources and tools for career success.

Dr. Larry Mitnaul

Dr. Larry Mitnaul is a dual board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist practicing in Wichita. His work takes a unique approach to community health by using technology, creativity and music to help connect with patients. He seeks to destigmatize mental health and remove stereotypes that often create barriers to individuals and families seeking help by working with the community on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and television. In response to the pandemic, Dr. Mitnaul launched a monthly TV series, “Cause for Hope” that focused on creating connections with youth to encourage health and resilience in the face of isolation. His work has made a significant impact on the well-being of the Wichita community. He was the recipient of the Kansas African American Museum’s 2021 Doris Kerr Larkins Rising Star Award for his distinguished community engagement. .

Lakesha Bates

Lakesha Bates serves as the Branch Head of the Flight Systems Integration and Test Branch at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. She provides technical leadership to the electrical engineering division, responsible for integration, test and launch support services of space flight hardware. Throughout her multi-decade career working for NASA, Bates has provided engineering support and leadership to Goddard Space Flight Center’s top tier space flight missions such as Hubble Space Telescope, James Webb Telescope and DAVINCI, to name a few. Her role as a leader have included providing support to an average of 15 to 20 space flight missions per year, supporting over $4 billion worth of NASA space assets. Bates is a Wichita Kansas native who graduated from Wichita High School East, where she earned a record of 14 varsity letters by participating in sports such as volleyball, basketball, track and field and pom-pom (dance team). She holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from University of Central Florida and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics/pre-engineering with a minor in computer Science from Bethune-Cookman University.

George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver (1864 – 1943) was an agricultural scientist who rose to prominence in the early 20^th century. Carver was born into slavery in Missouri and lived in several Kansas communities, graduating from high school in Minneapolis, Kansas. Eventually, he became a professor at the Tuskegee Institute, where he promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. Carver is probably best known for his work with peanuts, discovering more than 300 uses for them and helping make them a staple of the American diet. Carver became an American celebrity who traveled the country promoting peanuts, sweet potatoes and racial harmony.

Jedidah Isler

Jedidah Isler is an astrophysicist and an advocate for diversity in STEM. In 2014, she became the first African American woman to earn her PhD in astrophysics at Yale University, focusing her research on black holes. She is a frequent public speaker and now works for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Isler aims to inspire the next generation of STEM leaders to connect their curiosity with careers of relevance and impact.

Ed Dwight

Ed Dwight is a Kansas City, Kansas, native who was the first African American selected for the Air Force training program from which NASA selected astronauts. Dwight advanced to the second round of training in the 1960s but controversially was not selected to join NASA.  Dwight earned an aeronautics degree from Arizona State University and rose to the rank of captain in the Air Force when he was selected to be a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base. He was born in 1933 and grew up passionate about two things: art and airplanes. Young Dwight spent time at local hangar cleaning out airplanes, but during that era of segregation, he wasn’t sure he would ever get a chance to be a pilot himself. After leaving the Air Force, Dwight embarked on a prolific career as a sculptor, including many commissions related to the history of African Americans.

*UPDATE* Ed Dwight, the man who six decades ago nearly became America’s first Black astronaut, made his first trip into space at age 90 on Sunday [June 16, 2024] along with five crewmates aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket. READ MORE

Alice Ball

Alice Ball (1892 – 1916) was a chemist who developed a significant treatment for leprosy, a highly stigmatized disease during her lifetime. Ball attended the University of Washington, earning degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmacy. She then pursued a master’s in chemistry at the University of Hawaii, where she found a way to make chaulmoogra oil injectable. It had previously been used as a topical treatment for leprosy patients with mixed results. This injectable treatment was the only effective treatment for leprosy until the 1940s. Ball wasn’t able to publish her findings before her untimely death, but she was eventually given credit as the creator of the “Ball method.”

Junius Groves

Junius Groves (1859 – 1925) was farmer and entrepreneur who was born into slavery and became known as the “Potato King of the World” by optimizing potato growth methods in Edwardsville, Kansas. Groves was an Exoduster who came to Kansas at age 19. He purchased 80 acres and began to grow white potatoes. He earned his moniker by reportedly growing more bushels of potatoes per acre than anyone else in the world, eventually owning more than 500 acres. The Union Pacific Railway even built a special spur to his property to accommodate his needs. In the early 1900s, Groves founded Groves Center near Edwardsville and sold tracts of land to African American families. He also build a golf course for African Americans.

Dr. Raychelle Burks

Raychelle Burks is an associate professor of chemistry at American University and award-winning science communicator who has appeared regularly on TV, film, podcasts and in print. Her work focuses on the use of molecular sensors to detect drugs, explosives, chemical weapons and latent prints. Her team aims to create detection methods that are portable, low cost and reliable.

Dr. Ken Carter

Ken Carter is a professor, clinical psychologist and interim dean of Oxford College of Emory University who studies the lifestyle, psychology and neuroscience behind thrill-seeking behavior. He has delivered a TEDx talk on thrill-seekers and is the host of Mind of a Motorhead an NBC Sports web series that examines the personalities of motorsport athletes. Carter’s most recent book is Buzz!: Inside the Minds of Thrill-Seekers, Daredevils, and Adrenaline Junkies (Cambridge University Press). These high sensation-seekers crave intense experiences, despite physical or social risk.

June Bacon-Bercey

June Bacon-Bercey (1928 -2019) was a native Wichitan and atmospheric scientist who was the first African-American woman to earn a meteorology degree as well as the first to forecast weather on television. She worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, served on the Atomic Energy Commission as a senior adviser and was a radar meteorologist for the National Weather Service as a radar meteorologist. Bacon-Bercey was initially hesitant to appear on the air. “I did not want to do weather on television, only because at that time I felt it was still gimmicky for women, and I didn’t want to prostitute my profession by being some kind of clown,” Bacon-Bercey told Robert Henson in his book Weather on the Air: A History of Broadcast Meteorology.

Katherine Johnson

(1918-2020)

For much of her life, Katherine Johnson’s contributions were not widely acknowledged. Her calculations of orbital mechanics were crucial to the success of NASA’s crewed spaceflights. Johnson worked on Project Mercury and Apollo missions as a “human computer.” In 2015, Johnson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she was portrayed as a lead character in the Hidden Figures book and film. Johnson studied mathematics and French at West Virginia State College and began her career as a teacher. In 1962, astronaut John Glenn famously asked engineers to have Johnson run the numbers by hand for the equations that were programmed into mission computers. “If she says they’re good,” Katherine Johnson remembers the astronaut saying, “then I’m ready to go.”

Warren Washington

(b. 1936)

Warren Washington studied physics at Oregon State University and then earned a master’s degree there in meteorology. He received his doctorate in meteorology from Pennsylvania and then joined the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Washington is an internationally recognized expert in climate research and modeling. He served as chair of the National Science Board from 2002 to 2006.

Mae Jemison

(b. 1956)

Mae Jemison became the first Black woman to travel in space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992. Jemison studied chemical engineering at Stanford University and then earned a medical degree at Cornell University. She served in the Peace Corps in Liberia and Sierra Leone before joining the NASA corps of astronauts. Since leaving NASA, Jemison formed a nonprofit educational foundation and has written several books for children. She has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the International Space Hall of Fame.

John Brooks Slaughter

(b. 1935)

This Topeka native studied electrical engineering at Kansas State University and then earned a master’s from the University of California, Los Angeles and a doctorate at the University of California, San Diego. He eventually joined the National Science Foundation as assistant director for astronomics, atmospherics, Earth and ocean sciences. From 1980 to 1982, Slaughter served as director of the National Science Foundation and later the president of Occidental College. Today, he is a professor at the University of Southern California.