GEORGE EDWARD ALCORN, JR.

Alcorn graduated from Occidental College, Los Angeles, California, with a Bachelor of Science in Physics, having received his degree with honors while earning eight letters in basketball and football. After nine additional months of study, he earned a Master of Science in Nuclear Physics in 1963 from Howard University. During the summers of 1962 and 1963 Alcorn worked as a research engineer for the Space Division of North America Rockwell, being involved with the computer analysis of launch trajectories and orbital mechanics for Rockwell missiles. In 1967 he earned a Ph.D. in Atomic and Molecular Physics from Howard University. Between 1965-1967 he conducted research under a NASA-sponsored grant. Dr. Alcorn holds patents on semiconductor technology and has done research on the adaptation of chemical ionization mass spectrometers for the detection of amino acids and development of other experimental methods for planetary life detection, and the development of new concepts of magnet design and the invention of a new type of x-ray spectrometer.

EDWARD ALEXANDER BOUCHET

Bouchet (1852-1918) was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and graduated from Hopkins Grammar School (1870) as valedictorian of his class. He entered Yale College in 1870, was the first African American to graduate Yale College in 1874, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa belatedly in 1884. Bouchet continued studying physics at Yale, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in Physics in 1876. He was the first African American to earn a doctorate degree from an American university. Bouchet taught chemistry and physics for twenty-six years at what was later to become Cheney State College in Pennsylvania. He was Inspector of Customs at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904/05, and between 1905 and 1908 was director of academics at St. Paul's Normal and Industrial School in Lawrenceville, Virginia (later renamed St. Paul's College). In 1913 he joined the faculty of Bishop College in Marshall, Texas, retiring three years later due to illness and returning to New Haven.

ROBERT HENRY BRAGG

Bragg (1919- ) was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and received his Ph.D. in Physics in 1960 from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He worked as Assistant Physicist, then Associate Physicist for the Research Laboratory of Portland Cement Association (1951-1956). From 1956 to 1961 he was first Associate Physicist, then Research Physicist, and finally Senior Physicist at the Research Institute of Illinois Institute of Technology. Bragg was appointed Research Scientist at the Palo Alto Research Laboratory for the Lockheed Missile and Space Company in 1961, then served as the Senior Staff Scientist from 1963 to 1969. Beginning in 1969, Bragg served as a Professor of Material Science and Mineral Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley as well as Principal Investigator for the Materials and Molecular Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

HERMAN BRANSON

Branson (1914-1995) was born in Pocahontas, Virginia, and received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Cincinnati in 1939. He was appointed Assistant Professor of Physics and Chemistry at Howard University from 1941-1943, then director of the physics program at that institution as well as chairman of its department from 1941 to 1968. From 1968 to 1970 he served as President of Central State University, and in 1970 Branson became the President of Lincoln University (PA) until his retirement in 1985. Dr. Branson's research interests were in mathematical biology and protein structure.

GEORGE R. CARRUTHERS

Carruthers (1939- ) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and received his Ph.D. in aeronautical and astronomical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1964. He held the position of Rocket Astronomy Research Physicist from 1964 to 1982, and then was head of the Ultraviolet Measurements Branch of the Naval Research Laboratory. An inventor as well as physicist, George Carruthers was instrumental in the design of lunar surface ultraviolet cameras.