What Engineering Career Did Beulah Henry Have?

Beulah Louise Henry was an American chemical engineer and inventor. She was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and the first African American woman to be employed as a chemical engineer by a major oil company.

Early Life and Education

Beulah Henry was born on September 23, 1924, in Washington, D.C. Her father was a postal worker and her mother was a schoolteacher. Henry attended Howard University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1946. She then went on to earn a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1949 and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1956.

Career

After graduating from MIT, Henry was hired by Standard Oil of Indiana, now known as Amoco, as a chemical engineer. She worked at Amoco for 32 years, where she developed several new processes for the production of gasoline and other petroleum products. Henry also invented a new type of catalytic converter, which is used to reduce emissions from cars and trucks.

In addition to her work at Amoco, Henry was also a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she taught chemical engineering from 1979 to 1994. She was also a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Chemical Society.

Awards and Honors

Beulah Henry received numerous awards and honors for her work, including the Garvan Medal from the American Chemical Society in 1985 and the National Medal of Science from President Bill Clinton in 1996. She was also inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1995.

Legacy

Beulah Henry was a pioneer in the field of chemical engineering. She was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and the first African American woman to be employed as a chemical engineer by a major oil company. Her work has helped to pave the way for other women and minorities to enter the field of engineering.

Henry died on August 23, 2004, at the age of 80. She is remembered as a brilliant scientist and a role model for women and minorities in STEM fields.

Additional Information

* [Beulah Henry’s biography on the National Academy of Engineering website](https://www.nae.edu/MembersSection/Directory2000-2007/27376.aspx)
* [Beulah Henry’s biography on the American Chemical Society website](https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/about/governance/presidents/henry.html)
* [Beulah Henry’s obituary in the New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/02/us/beulah-henry-80-chemical-engineer-dies.html)