African American History Program of the National Academies
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AAHP News

In June 2012, Wanda Austin, president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation, was named one of 100 Women Leaders in STEM (Science, Technology, Education and Math) by STEMconnector, whose goal is to attract more women to STEM careers. More Information

Lawrence Bobo, W.E.B. DuBois Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University, received the 2012 Cooley-Mead Award of the American Sociological Association. The award is given annually to an individual who has made lifetime contributions to distinguished scholarship in sociological social psychology. More Information

National Visionary Leadership Project Video Interviews
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The Mission and History of

The African American History Program

Carter Godwin Woodson, (December 19, 1875 - April 3, 1950) an African American historian, author, journalist, and the founder of what eventually became known as African American History Month, is considered the first person to conduct a scholarly effort to popularize the value of Black History.  In 1926, Woodson wrote, "What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race, hate, and religious prejudice."

The African American History Program (AAHP) was established in 1986 with the goal to heighten awareness of the contributions of outstanding African Americans to science, engineering, medicine, and to the nation’s welfare.  In keeping with the objectives of Carter G. Woodson, the events organized by AAHP as well as its collection of online biographies of African Americans are tools for promoting the understanding of science, engineering, and medicine.

The AAHP is sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.  Institutional partners of the AAHP include Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences (CPNAS) and the Koshland Science Museum.

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