Top 22+ Trailblazing Black Women Who Shaped the Field of STEM

This article celebrates 22 pioneering Black women who helped shape the world of STEM through their brilliance, perseverance, and passion. Their legacies continue to inspire future generations to follow their dreams and pursue excellence.

22. Mae Carol Jemison

In 1992, physician and NASA astronaut Dr. Mae Carol Jemison became the first Black woman to travel in space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Her groundbreaking journey not only represented a significant achievement for diversity in space exploration, but also inspired countless young women to pursue careers in STEM.

21. Valerie Thomas

Dr. Valerie Thomas is an acclaimed physicist best known for inventing the illusion transmitter, a device that creates 3D images using concave mirrors. Patented in 1980, it paved the way for modern 3D movie technology that we known today. She also made significant contributions to NASA's Landsat program, the first satellite to send multispectral images of Earth from space.

20. Alexa Canady

In 1981, Dr. Alexa Canady became the first African American woman to become a neurosurgeon in the United States. Her expertise in pediatric neurosurgery and her commitment to addressing neurological disorders in children have paved the way for future generations of Black women in medicine.

19. Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson is a pioneering theoretical physicist known for her work in condensed matter physics. She made history as the first Black woman to earn a PhD from MIT, and just in the United States to earn a doctorate in physics. She later joined the Theoretical Physics Research Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories and served as the chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Her accomplishments have been widely recognized, including with the National Medal of Science, which she received in 2016.

18. Aprille Ericsson

Dr. Aprille Ericsson is an aerospace engineer known for her groundbreaking achievements at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Maryland. She was also the first African American woman to earn a doctorate in aerospace engineering from Howard University and the first to receive a Ph.D. in engineering at NASA and GSFC. Her leadership in developing technologies for space missions has inspired many young women to pursue careers in aerospace and engineering fields.

17. Bessie Blount Griffin

Bessie Blount Griffin was a nurse and physical therapist best known for developing a tubed device that could deliver individual bites of food to disabled World War II veterans at their own pace. She was just 30 years old at the time.

16. Dorothy Lavinia Brown

Dr. Dorothy Lavinia Brown, who spent her childhood in an orphanage, was the first Black woman to become a board-certified surgeon in the United States. She eventually was appointed chief of surgery at Nashville's Riverside Hospital. Her groundbreaking achievements in surgery and dedication to training other surgeons have opened doors for generations of medical professionals.

15. Anne-Marie Imafidon

Dr. Anne-Marie Imafidon is a mathematician and computer scientist best known for co-founding and leading the social enterprise Stemettes, which encourages young women and non-binary individuals to pursue careers in STEM. Her work aims to inspire the next generation of female leaders in these fields.

14. Katherine Johnson

Katherine Johnson was a celebrated mathematician whose calculations were critical to the success of NASA's early space missions. Her trajectory data ensured the safety of crewed missions, including the Apollo 11 moon landing. Johnson's story, highlighted in the book and film Hidden Figures (2016), continues to inspire women in STEM today.

13. Lyda Newman

Women's rights advocate Lyda Newman revolutionized hair care with her patented hairbrush design, which inspired the design for modern hairbrushes. She became just the third Black woman to ever receive a patent.

12. Marian Croak

Dr. Marian Croak is a prominent engineer best known for developing Voice Over Internet Protocols (VoIP), a technology that converts voices into a digital signals allowing people to make a calls directly from a computer or other digital device. Her contributions to the telecommunications industry have transformed communication methods worldwide.

11. Marie Van Brittan Brown

Marie Van Brittan Brown was an inventor best known for creating the first home security system, which included a closed-circuit television system. This system, developed with her husband, Albert Brown, allowing her to view and communicate with visitors from a distance. It without a doubt laid the foundation for modern home security systems and CCTV surveillance.

10. Patricia Bath

Dr. Patricia Bath was the first African American woman to receive a medical patent for her invention of the Laserphaco Probe, a device and technique used in cataract surgery that revolutionized the field. She was also the first African American woman to complete an ophthalmology residency and the first woman to be appointed to the faculty of the UCLA School of Medicine's Jules Stein Eye Institute.

9. Rebecca Lee Crumpler

In 1864, Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler earned a medical degree from New England Female Medical College, becoming the first Black woman to do so in the United States. A dedicated physician, she provided medical care in underserved communities and even published a book, A Book of Medical Discourses, in 1883, which provided medical advice for women and children.

8. Mary Jackson

Mary Jackson, an aerospace engineer and mathematician, was the first African American female engineer at NASA. Her work helped break barriers and paved the way for others in the male-dominated field of aerospace.

7. Kimberly Bryant

Kimberly Bryant is an electrical engineer and the founder of Black Girls Code, an organization dedicated to empowering young girls of color in STEM. Through workshops and mentorship programs, Bryant has influenced thousands of girls to pursue careers in technology and computer science.

6. Ashanti Johnson

Ashanti Johnson became one of the first African American female chemical oceanographers in the United States when she received her doctorate in Oceanography from Texas A&M University in 1999. She later earned the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring, established by the White House in 1995.

5. Aisha Bowe

Aisha Bowe, an aerospace engineer and entrepreneur is the founder and CEO of STEMBoard, an engineering solutions company, and LINGO, an educational technology company focused on STEM learning. She will be the first Black woman to travel to space with Blue Origin as part of a historic all-female crew on the New Shepard rocket.

4. Timnit Gebru

Eritrean-Ethiopian computer scientistTimnit Gebru is best known for her work in AI ethics, particularly her advocacy for diversity and inclusion in the field and her research on algorithmic bias. She also co-founded Black in AI, a community of Black researchers in artificial intelligence, and is the founder and executive director of the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR).

3. Donna Auguste

Donna Auguste, a software engineer by training, is best known as the founder and CEO of Freshwater Software, Inc., a Colorado firm that helps companies manage their businesses in cyberspace. Prior to founding Freshwater Software, she was a senior engineering manager at Apple and the first African-American woman to attend the PhD program at Carnegie-Mellon University.