Black and Latino Men in STEM: An Abridged History

Alexander Lucius Twilight becomes the first African-American to graduate from an American postsecondary institution.

James McCune Smith graduates from the University of Glasgow in Scotland, becoming the first African-American to earn a medical degree.
 

The Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute is founded, as well as the NYU School of Civil Engineering and Architecture.

Elijah McCoy patents the automatic lubricator for steam engines. A prolific inventor, McCoy secured 57 patents in his lifetime.

Edward Bouchet completes his doctorate in physics at Yale, becoming the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. from a US institution.
 

José Celso Barbosa graduates from the University of Michigan as the valedictorian, becoming the first Puerto Rican to earn a medical degree in the US.

Dr. Carlos Juan Finlay discovers how yellow fever is transmitted, a finding confirmed in 1900.

Dutch Guiana-born (now Suriname) Jan Ernst Matzeliger patents his automated shoe lasting machine.

Granville T. Woods, eventual holder of almost 60 patents, invents the multiplex telegraph, a game-changer for the transportation industry.

Renamed the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn.

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams opens Provident Hospital, the first Black owned and run hospital in the US.

NYU establishes the University Heights campus in the Bronx.

Panama-born Dario Melendez graduates from Polytechnic with a degree in electrical engineering.
 

Luis E. Eckelmann (BS Chemistry '16) presides over the Polytechnic Chemical Society and publishes a paper in The Polytechnic Engineer.

Multi-instrumentalist William G. Holly (BS Chemical Engineering ’22) assumes directorship of the Poly orchestra.
 

Professor Darnley Howard (BS Mechanical Engineering '20) leaves Poly to head Howard University's Mechanical Engineering Dept.

X-ray reflection microscope is co-invented by Albert Baez and his doctoral advisor, Paul Kirkpatrick.
 

World War II veteran Charles E. Anderson (MS Chemistry ‘48) earns a Ph.D. in meteorology from MIT.
 

Albert Baez serves as the first director of UNESCO's science education program.
 

Visiting Congolese students from Lovanium University tour Polytechnic's research labs with Dean Jacob Hostetter.

Maj. Robert H. Lawrence, Jr. (US Air Force) becomes the first African American astronaut.
 

Black Student Union is created and begins to publish a column in the Polytechnic Reporter.

Alpha Phi Alpha establishes a presence on campus.

Renamed Polytechnic Institute of New York after encompassing the faculty, programs, and students of New York University College of Engineering

National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) is founded. 

Society of Black Engineers is established as a student club.

The Cooperative Educational Minority Scholars and the Women Late Entry Program awards a five-year scholarship to Armando Rodriguez.

Association of Latin American Students is established at Poly.

National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) establishes a chapter at Poly.

Physicist Franklin Chang-Diaz becomes the first Latino astronaut.

Guion Bluford becomes the first African American to travel into space.

Renamed Polytechnic University.

HENAAC, now known as Great Minds in STEM, is created.

Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) establishes a chapter at Poly.

Erich Kunhardt (Ph.D. Physics '76) rejoins the Polytechnic community as the new provost.

An affiliation is forged between Polytechnic and New York University, creating the Polytechnic Institute of NYU and paving the way for an official merger. 

Arthur C. Martinez (BS Mechanical Engineering '60), retired chairman and CEO of Sears, receives an honorary doctorate at commencement.

Dr. George Carruthers, a pioneering physicist, receives the 2012 National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Barack Obama.

Merger with New York University becomes official - name changes to the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering.

Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon generously donate $100 million and the school is renamed NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Calvin Young III (BS Mechanical Engineering ‘10) announces his candidacy for mayor of Baltimore.

The Black and Latino Men at Tandon committee is created.

Professor André Taylor discusses his solar cell research with Hari Sreenivasan on an episode of SciTech Now on PBS.

Professor Juan Pablo Bello assumes the directorship of the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP).

Professor Miguel Modestino receives a Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Lieutenant Colonel Harry Stewart Jr chronicles his experiences as a Tuskegee Airman during WWII for National Geographic.

Joel Urena's (BS Integrated Digital Media '20) visual history of Black and Latinx students at Tandon is the cover story for Archival Outlook