October 21st in African American History – Charles Edward Anderson

October 21, 1994 Charles Edward Anderson, the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in Meteorology, died.

Anderson was born August 13, 1919 in St. Louis, Missouri. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from Lincoln University in 1941. After graduating, Anderson enlisted in the United States Air Force and was sent to the University of Chicago where he earned his meteorological certification in 1943 and began serving as Weather Officer for the Tuskegee Airmen.

Anderson earned his master’s degree from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and in 1960 received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1966 until his death, Anderson was a professor, first at the University of Wisconsin and then at North Carolina State University.

Today the American Meteorology Society honor Anderson’s legacy with the Charles Anderson Award given annually to recognize outstanding contributions to the promotion of diversity in the atmospheric sciences.

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