Samuel M. Nabrit facts for kids

Samuel M. Nabrit (February 21, 1905 – December 30, 2003) was a very important American scientist and educator. He made history many times. He was the first African American to earn a special science degree (a Ph.D.) from Brown University. He was also the first graduate from Morehouse College to get a Ph.D.

Dr. Nabrit was also the first African American chosen for the United States Atomic Energy Commission. This group later became the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He was also the first African American to join the Brown University Board of Trustees. This board helps run the university.

He finished his studies at Morehouse College in 1925. He then earned his master's degree from Brown University in 1928. In 1932, he received his Ph.D. in biology from Brown University. After him, the next four African-American students to get Ph.D.s from Brown were students he had taught at Morehouse.

Early Life and Education

Samuel Milton Nabrit was born on February 21, 1905. His hometown was Macon, Georgia. His father, James M. Nabrit Sr., was a minister and a teacher. His mother was Augusta G. West.

Samuel was one of eight children. All of them went to college. In 1921, he was chosen as the top student in his high school class. His brother, James Nabrit Jr., also went to Morehouse College. James Jr. later became the second African-American president of Howard University. He also served as a Deputy United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

A Career in Science

Dr. Nabrit was a talented marine biologist. He studied how injured fish could regrow their tail fins. He did this research at the Marine Biological Laboratory. He was the second African-American scientist to become a member of this important laboratory.

Teaching and Leadership

Nabrit started teaching at Morehouse College in 1925. He was a professor of zoology. In 1932, he became the head of the biology department there. Later that year, he became the head of the biology department at Atlanta University. From 1950 to 1955, he was the dean of the graduate school of arts and sciences at Atlanta University.

In 1950, Dr. Nabrit was a research fellow in Belgium. He worked at the University of Brussels. The scientific papers he wrote during this time were very important. They influenced the field of biology for many years.

University President and Public Service

In 1955, Dr. Nabrit became the second president of Texas Southern University. He led the university until 1966. He also served on President Dwight D. Eisenhower's National Science Board from 1956 to 1962.

President John F. Kennedy appointed him to be the United States Ambassador to Niger. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson chose Nabrit for the United States Atomic Energy Commission. This was a very important role.

One year later, Nabrit started the Southern Fellowship Fund. This program helped African-American students get their doctoral degrees. He led this program for many years. It was later called the National Fellowship Fund of the Council of Southern Universities.

In 1945, he was the president of the National Institute of Science. This group helps students and teachers at historically black colleges and universities. In 1967, Nabrit was elected to the Board of Trustees at Brown University.

Brown University has honored Dr. Nabrit in several ways. The Nabrit Fellowship was created there in 1985. The Nabrit Black Graduate Student Association at Brown University is also named after him. In 1999, Brown University hung a portrait of him. This showed how much they respected him as one of their most important faculty members.

Important Writings

• "The Role of the Fin Rays in Tailfins of Fishes Fundulus and Goldfish", Biological Bulletin, April 1929.
• "Human Ecology in Georgia", Science Education, October 1944.
• "The Negro in Science", Negro History Bulletin, January 1957.