Edward Alexander Bouchet

Edward Alexander Bouchet (born September 15, 1852, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.—died October 28, 1918, New Haven) was a renowned physicist and the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in the United States, as well as the sixth person to earn a doctorate in physics from an American university, which he received from Yale University in 1876.

Bouchet’s father was brought by a young plantation owner from South Carolina to New Haven while still enslaved, though he was later emancipated. Bouchet excelled academically at an African American elementary school and at a private college preparatory school before beginning his studies at Yale in 1870. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1874, and two years later he received a doctorate in physics. Bouchet was one of the first African Americans elected to Phi Beta Kappa—the leading academic honour society in the United States.

After earning a Ph.D., Bouchet was initially unable to find work as a professor due to racial discrimination. He eventually found work at the Institute for Colored Youth (now Cheyney University) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded by Quakers, the institute employed African American teachers and offered college preparatory courses for its students. For the next 26 years Bouchet taught mainly chemistry and physics at the Institute. In 1902, however, the school changed its mission to emphasize vocational training, and Bouchet left. He subsequently held various jobs, including teaching positions in Missouri, Virginia, Ohio, and Texas. In 1916 he returned to New Haven, where he died. Though he was initially buried in an unmarked grave in the Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven, Yale placed a headstone on his grave in 1998.