RANDOLPH "BILL" BROMERY

Bromery served with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. After the war, he began employment with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as an airborne exploration geophysicist, remaining with the USGS for nearly 20 years. When he earned his Ph.D. in geology from Johns Hopkins University in 1967, Bromery was one of only four African American geologists with a doctorate in the country. He began to teach in the Geosciences department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1967, and later served as the Chancellor of the university from 1971-1979. He served as the president of Springfield College, retiring from there in 1998 but remaining active in the higher education community and the geosciences. He is writing a book about his youth during the segregation of the 1920s to 1940s, his service with the Tuskegee Airmen, and his life as a professional geologist/geophysicist.

MACK GIPSON, JR.

Gipson was the first African American to obtain the Ph.D. in Geology and had been a Professor at Virginia State University. He was also a consultant to NASA and the founding advisor of The National Association of Black Geologists and Geophysicists.

MITCHELL LEVERETTE

Leverette works for the Bureau of Land Management. He started with the BLM in 1987 as the only African American geologist in the entire agency. He serves as the program lead of the Saleable Minerals program for the California State Office, where he is responsible for 250 mineral sale contracts valued at more than $40 million. He regularly mentors African American geologists and several other African Americans across the BLM. From 1991 to 1994, Leverette served as Manager for Black Employment at BLM's California State Office, where he planned and coordinated special programs for all BLM employees.