Gloria L. Anderson

Gloria L. Anderson was born and raised in Altheimer, Arkansas, and had five brothers.  Her father was a farmer and then a janitor; her mother a domestic worker and a creative seamstress.  Anderson was always good in school, even skipping grades, yet she had to attend segregated schools, literally just down the road from the origin of Brown v. Board of Education.  Her high school was called Altheimer Training School; the one for white students was called Altheimer High School.

Anderson attended Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical, and Normal College (AM&N) on scholarship; she was valedictorian of her class (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was her commencement speaker and stands beside her in a photo).  Although she thought she did not want to teach, she took a job teaching the seventh grade in an Altheimer school, leaving after a year to accept a teaching assistantship at Atlanta University.  There, with Kimuel Huggins and Henry McBay as mentors, she wrote a master’s thesis in butadiene chemistry.  During this time she also married.  After a year of teaching at South Carolina State College and two at Morehouse College Anderson was accepted into the doctoral program at the University of Chicago.  She studied fluorine, using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), in Leon Stock’s lab.  She had no study group and little help, teaching herself first the fluorine-19 NMR and then other types.  She was friends with Thomas Cole, a fellow student who later became president of Clark Atlanta University.

Having obtained her PhD, Anderson became associate professor and chair of the department of chemistry at Morris Brown College.  In that position she struggled with the National Science Foundation and other organizations to get equipment and funding for the school.  She was offered the Fuller E. Callaway Chair, which she held until she became Dean of Academic Affairs, and which she resumed when she went back to teaching.  She continued her research into fluorine-19, and began studying amantadines as potential antivirals; she often paid for her own research and patents.  Twice she was interim president of Morris Brown; she laments the college’s current unaccredited status, the loss due to a former president’s fraud.

In addition to her work for the College, Anderson has been a board member and Vice Chair of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; she served also on two task forces, one for minorities and one for women in public television.  She worked on boards of Georgia and Atlanta Public Broadcasting, as well as many others, and she has been on an advisory committee for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.  Throughout her log career she has won and received numerous honors.

Throughout the interview Anderson discusses the politics of being a woman in a man’s world and of being black in a white world.  She found her inspiration in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and has spent her professional life trying to make things better and easier for the less-advantaged.  Anderson’s advice to young women considering chemistry as a career is:  you must love chemistry; you must be committed; and you must prove yourself over and over.

1958	B.S., Chemistry and Mathematics, Arkansas A.M. & N. College
1961	M.S., Organic Chemistry, Atlanta University
1968	Ph.D., Physical Organic Chemistry, University of Chicago

South Carolina State College

1961 - 1962

Instructor

Morehouse College

1962 - 1964

Instructor

University of Chicago

1964 - 1968

Teaching and Research Assistant, Chemistry

Morris Brown College

1968 - 1973

Associate Professor and Chair, Chemistry

Morris Brown College

1973 - 1984

Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Chemistry and Chair

Morris Brown College

1984 - 1989

Dean of Academic Affairs

Morris Brown College

1990 - 1992

Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Chemistry

Morris Brown College

1992 - 1993

Interim President

Morris Brown College

1993

Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Chemistry

Morris Brown College

1995 - 1997

Dean of Science and Technology

Morris Brown College

1998

Interim President

Morris Brown College

1999 - present

Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Chemistry

Lockheed Georgia Corporation

1981

National Science Foundation Research Fellow

Lockheed Georgia Corporation

1982

Research Consultant

U.S. Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, Edwards Air Force Base

1984

SCEEE Faculty Research Fellow

IPECS Holland, The Hague

1990

Research Consultant

1956 - 1958	Rockefeller Scholarship
1970	Outstanding Service Award, Special Services Students, Morris Brown College
1970 - 1974	Liaison Officer, United Negro College Fund Pre-Medical Summer Program, Fisk University
1973	Congratulatory Plaque, Arkansas A.M. & N. College Alumni Association
1973	Certificate of Appreciation, Student Government Association, Morris Brown College
1974	Testimonial of Appreciation, CPB Advisory Panel on Essentials for Minority Programming
1974	Atlanta Deltas “Breaking New Ground,” Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
1974	Appreciation Certificate, Senior Class, Morris Brown College
1974 - 1976	Chair, Greater Atlanta Public Broadcasting Study Committee
1975	Certificate of Appreciation, Atlanta Board of Education
1976	Scroll of Honor, National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women
1976	Outstanding Teacher Award, Senior Class, Morris Brown College
1977	Appreciation Plaque, Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium
1977	Outstanding Service Award, Student Assistance Program, Morris Brown College
1977 - 1979	Chair, Self Study Steering Committee, Morris Brown College
1978	Sixth Edition Award, Atlanta Chapter, National Association of Media Women
1978	Chairlady’s Award, Atlanta Chapter, National Association of Media Women
1978	Public Broadcasting Service Award, Atlanta Chapter, National Association of Media Women
1978	Resolution of Appreciation, Corporation for Public Broadcasting
1978	Appreciation Plaque, Task Force on Minorities in Public Broadcasting
1979	Resolution of Appreciation, Corporation for Public Broadcasting
1979	Outstanding Black Women, the Utopian Club
1980 - 1982	Vice President, Public Broadcasting Atlanta Board
1981	Faculty Industrial Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation
1982	Certificate of Appreciation, State of Georgia
1983	Teacher of the Year, Senior Class, Morris Brown College
1983	Faculty/Staff Hall of Fame, Senior Class, Morris Brown College
1983	Special Service Award, Morris Brown College
1983	Appreciation Award, Upward Bound Program, Morris Brown College
1983	Honorary Member, Phi Eta Sigma Freshman Honor Society, Morris Brown College
1984	Faculty Research Fellowship, Southeastern Center for Electrical Engineering Education, Air Force Office of Scientific Research
1984	Appreciation Award, Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory
1985	UNCF Distinguished Scholar Award, United Negro College Fund
1985	Certificate of Recognition, Southeastern Association of Educational Opportunity Programs Personnel
1985	Appreciation Plaque, Metro SYETP, DeKalb County SYETP, and Upward Bound
1985	Appreciation Plaque, PREP Class of 1985, Morris Brown College
1985	Service Above Self Award, TRIO Programs, Morris Brown College
1986	Appreciation Plaque, Martin/Altheimer School Reunion
1986	Certificate of Appreciation, U.S. Department of Education
1986	Presidential Citation in Recognition of Exemplary Experiences that Honor My Alma Mater, National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education
1986	Appreciation Trophy, Morris Brown College Upward Bound/Metro SYETP
1987	Alumni All-Star Excellence Award in Education, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
1988	Appreciation Trophy, Morris Brown College TRIO Programs
1988	Honorary Member, Golden Key National Honor Society, Morris Brown College
1989	YWCA Salute to Women of Achievement
1989 - 1990	United Negro College Fund Distinguished Scholar
1989 - 1990	Appreciation Award, Scholars Restaurant, Morris Brown College
1990	Honorary Member, Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society, Morris Brown College
1991	“Women of Color in the Struggle,” A Consortium of Doctors LTD
1991	Outstanding Black Educators in Atlanta, SuccessGuide 1991: The Guide   to Black Resources in Atlanta
1991	Appreciation Trophy, Morris Brown College Upward Bound Program
1992	Resolution by the House of Representations, Commendations and Recognition, Georgia State Legislature
1992	“A Salute to Black Mothers: For Outstanding Contributions to the Black Community,” Concerned Black Clergy of Metro Atlanta, Inc
1993	Proclamation, “Gloria Long Anderson Day,” City of Atlanta, Georgia
1993	Proclamation by the Governor of the State of Georgia
1993	Citation, Achievement, 120th Founder’s Day Celebration, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
1993	Plaque, Achievement, 120th Founder’s Day Celebration, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
1994	Appreciation Plaque, Morris Brown College Women’s Week
1994 - 1995	Appreciation Plaque, “Be the Labor Great or Small; Do It Well or Not At all; Dr. Anderson: You Did It Well!” “Thank You and We Love You,” Organic Chemistry class, Morris Brown College
1996	Appreciation Plaque, Morris Brown College TRIO Programs
1997	Appreciation Plaque, Morris Brown College TRIO Programs
1998	Certificate of Recognition, Druid Pointe Black History Month Committee
1998	Belle Ringer Image Award, Bennett College
1998	“A Salute to Black Mothers: For Outstanding Contributions in Education,” Concerned Black Clergy of Metro Atlanta, Inc.
1998	Outstanding Georgia Citizen, State of Georgia
1998	Recognition Plaque, Morris Brown College
1998	Interim President Appreciation Plaque, “You Are the Heart and Soul of Morris Brown College,” Morris Brown College Faculty and Staff
1999	Outstanding Education Award, West Georgia Chapter, Morris Brown College National Alumni Association
2000	Chair, Promotion and Tenure Ad Hoc Appeals Committee, Morris Brown College
2001	Appreciation Plaque, “For Distinguished Service in Science,” Going the Distance 3rd Annual commencement Gala, Morris Brown College
2002	Scroll of Honor Award, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
2003	Chair, Academic Planning Task Force, Morris Brown College
2003	Chair, Faculty Retention Task Force, Morris Brown College
2004	Chair, Academic Affairs Council, Morris Brown College
2004	Appreciation Plaque, “In Appreciation for Faculty Leadership,” Morris Brown College Faculty

Jeannette E. Brown

Jeannette E. Brown has a research MS degree from the University of Minnesota and a BS degree in the Field of Chemistry from Hunter College. She started her industrial career at CIBA
Pharmaceutical Co. as a junior chemist, working there for eleven years, and she held the position of Research Chemist at Merck & Co. Inc. for twenty-five years. Brown is a former Faculty Associate in the department of Pre-College Programs at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, holding the title of New Jersey Statewide Systemic Initiative (NJSSI) Regional Director. She was appointed to the National Science Foundation Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women Minorities and Persons with Disabilities (CEOSE) and served on that committee for six years. She is the 2005 recipient of the American Chemical Society Dreyfus Award for mentoring minorities in science and she is currently working on a book about the history of African-American women chemists.