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Contribution #58 of 365
Edward Alexander Bouchet
First Black American to Earn a U.S. Ph.D.
1876
The contribution
How this work helped shape America
Physicist Edward Alexander Bouchet earned his doctorate from Yale University in 1876, becoming the first Black American to earn a Ph.D. from an American university. He was also among the earliest Americans of any background to receive a doctorate in physics.