About the Book

This is the second of two books about African-American female chemists. The first book (African-American Women Chemists, 2011) focused on the early pioneers--women chemists from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Act. African American Women Chemists in the Modern Era focuses on contemporary women who have benefited from the Civil Rights Act and are now working as chemists or chemical engineers. 

This book was produced by taking the oral history of women who are leaders in their field and who wanted to tell the world how they suceeded. It features eighteen amazing women in this book and each of them has a claim to fame, despite hiding in plain sight. These women reveal the history of their lives from youth to adult. Overall, Jeannette Brown aims to inspire women and minorities to pursue careers in the sciences, as evidenced by the successful career paths of the women that came before them.

MIT profiles include:

Stephanie Niyonu McGuire '96-  Biology/Life Science (Course VII)

Gilda A. Barabino, 1996-98 NSF Visiting Professorships for Women Award (MIT sabbatical) and 2001 MIT National Initiative for Minority Women Faculty

Brown, Jeannette E. African American Women Chemists in the Modern Era. Oxford University Press, 2018.