Walter Cooper (scientist)
American chemist and humanitarian
Walter Cooper (born July 18, 1928, in Clairton, Pennsylvania) is an American scientist, humanitarian, activist, and educator. Primarily a research scientist, he was also heavily involved in civil rights work both in Rochester, New York and in Mali.
Education
Cooper's parents, Alonzo and Luda Cooper, were strong proponents of education, and Cooper often said "Not to educate a child is the worst form of child abuse." He graduated from Clairton High School in 1946, where he was a star football player; he was named All Monongahela Valley. His friend Dan Towler, who had played high school football at nearby Donora, Pennsylvania, convinced Cooper to join him at Washington & Jefferson College. He earned a scholarship and played for the Washington & Jefferson Presidents football team.
While there, he majored in chemistry and minored in physics and math, graduating in with a degree in Bachelor of Science from Washington and Jefferson College in 1950.
He originally attempted to enter industry, but he soon realized that the corporate world was demanding more of black professionals, and he decided to pursue a higher degree. He briefly attended Howard University. In 1956, he became the first African-American to earn a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Rochester. Cooper often said "I became a scientist because I did not see any black scientists.
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This entry incorporates text from “Walter Cooper (scientist)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.