Who was the first African American to get a PhD?
Asked by: Cydney Hegmann | Last update: November 11, 2025Score: 4.5/5 (66 votes)
Edward Alexander Bouchet (September 15, 1852 – October 28, 1918) was an American physicist and
Who was the first African American with a PhD?
Edward Alexander Bouchet: The First African American to Earn a PhD from an American University. When Edward Alexander Bouchet was born on September 15, 1852, in New Haven, there was little likelihood of him one day attending nearby Yale University (known at the time as Yale College).
Who was the first black person to get a Harvard PhD?
W. E. B. Du Bois, the first Black person to earn a PhD from Harvard, used his talent and intellect to pave a path toward racial uplift.
Who was the first person to get a PhD in the US?
In 1852, the first honorary PhD in the nation was given at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania to Ebenezer Newton Elliott. Nine years later, in 1861, Yale University awarded three PhDs: to Eugene Schuyler in philosophy and psychology, Arthur Williams Wright in physics, and James Morris Whiton in classics.
What degree did Dubois get from Harvard?
In 1888 Du Bois enrolled at Harvard as a junior. He received a BA cum laude, in 1890, an MA in 1891, and a PhD in 1895.
Honoring Dr. Georgiana Simpson: First African-American woman to earn a PhD from UChicago
Who was the first Black graduate of Harvard Law?
Richard Theodore Greener. Harvard's first Black graduate, Richard T. Greener, went on to become the first Black professor at the University of South Carolina and dean of the Howard University School of Law. Born in Philadelphia in 1844, Richard T.
What was the topic of Du Bois's doctoral thesis and what did it become?
Awarded a PhD in History from Harvard, he is the first black to receive a PhD from Harvard. Published his doctoral dissertation, The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, 1638–1870, as the first volume of Harvard's Historical Monograph Series.
Which president had only one PhD?
1 president had a PhD, Woodrow Wilson.
Who is the youngest PhD ever?
The youngest person to be awarded a PhD is the German child prodigy Johann Heinrich Friedrich Karl Witte (born 10 July 1800; better known simply as Karl Witte), who received his doctorate from the University of Giessen, Germany, on 10 April 1814 at the age of 13 years 283 days.
Who was the first American woman to earn a PhD?
Helen Magill White (born November 28, 1853, Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.—died October 28, 1944, Kittery Point, Maine) was an educator who was the first woman in the United States to earn a Ph. D.
Who is the youngest Black PhD graduate?
Dr. Dorothy Jean Tillman II just earned her doctoral degree from Arizona State University (ASU) at age 17.
Who was denied a PhD from Harvard?
Although she earned her PhD at Harvard under William James, Calkins was refused the degree by the Harvard Corporation (who continues to refuse to grant the degree posthumously) on the grounds that Harvard did not accept women.
Who was the first Black man to graduate from university?
Chavis, the first known African American to receive a college degree in the U.S., graduated from Washington and Lee University (W&L) in 1799. Despite his landmark achievement, Chavis remains fairly unknown in U.S. history.
Who was the first African American PhD math?
Elbert Frank Cox (5 December 1895 – 28 November 1969) was an American mathematician. He was the first African American to receive a PhD in mathematics, which he earned at Cornell University in 1925. Evansville, Indiana, U.S.
Who was the first Black professor?
Martin Luther Kilson Jr.
(February 14, 1931 – April 24, 2019) was an American political scientist. He was the first black academic to be appointed a full professor at Harvard University, where he was later the Frank G.
Who is the person with 7 PhDs?
I use my superhuman strength to save people too. When I am not the Hulk, I am Bruce Banner, a renowned scientist, physicist, and medical doctor with seven Ph. D.s. I specialise in Gamma Radiation and created the serum that made me the Hulk.
Can you get a PhD without a Masters?
In short, yes, you can get a PhD without a Master's.
Who is the 17 year old graduated with a PhD?
A Chicago teenager walked in her university's commencement program after making history for earning a doctorate degree at the age of 17. Dorothy Jean Tillman II celebrated the rare accomplishment, describing commencement week as “surreal” and “full of reflection and inspiration”, in a post to Instagram.
Does Obama have a PhD?
Obama graduated from Harvard Law in 1991 with a Juris Doctor magna cum laude.
Who was the only unmarried president?
Tall, stately, stiffly formal in the high stock he wore around his jowls, James Buchanan was the only President who never married. Presiding over a rapidly dividing Nation, Buchanan grasped inadequately the political realities of the time.
Which U.S. president never went to school?
George Washington (1789-1797)
George Washington is another answer to the question “who was the only president who never went to school?” He never went to college and received no education past the age of 11.
Who was the first black person to graduate from Harvard?
Harvard University Archives. Richard Theodore Greener (1844-1922), professor, lawyer, and diplomat, was the first Black graduate of Harvard College, receiving his AB from the College in 1870.
What did Du Bois believe in?
Du Bois believed social change could be accomplished only through agitation and protest, and he promoted this view in his writing and in his organizing work. He was a pioneering advocate of Black nationalism and Pan-Africanism, and he urged his audience to see “Beauty in Black.”