| Name | Summary |
| Yewande Akinola | Yewande Akinola MBE is a Chartered Engineer who specialises in sustainable water supplies. She works as Principal Engineer for Laing O’Rourke and hosts television shows about engineering for Channel 4 and National Geographic. Akinola studied Engineering Design and Appropriate Technology at the University of Warwick. During her degree she was a Mechanical Engineer for Thames Water, where she worked on clean water treatment sites. In 2007 she was employed by Arup Group as a Design Engineer designing water supplies and water management systems. Whilst working for Arup, she earned a master’s degree from Cranfield University in 2011. Akinola is a prominent voice in the movement to increase diversity within engineering. |
| Dr John Alcindor | Originally from Trinidad, John graduated with a medical degree from Edinburgh University in 1899. He then worked in London hospitals for several years before going into practice on his own. When the First World War broke out in 1914, he naturally wanted to use his skills to help with the war effort. But despite his qualifications and experience, he was rejected outright by the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1914 because of his ‘colonial origin’. Following the war, Dr Alcindor – a long-term resident of Paddington – became a senior district medical officer for the area. Renowned for his devotion to patients, whatever their origin or race, he became known locally as the celebrated ‘black doctor of Paddington’. |
| Dr Margaret Ebuoluwa Alderin-Poccock | Dr Margaret Ebuoluwa Aderin-Pocock MBE is a British Space Scientist and Science Educator. She is an Honorary Research Associate of University College London’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. Since February 2014, she has co-presented the long-running astronomy television programme The Sky at Night with Chris Lintott. She attended La Sainte Union Convent School in North London. She has dyslexia and, as a child, when she told a teacher she wanted to be an astronaut, it was suggested she try nursing, “because that’s scientific, too”. She gained four A-Levels in maths, physics, chemistry, and biology. She studied at Imperial College London, graduated with a B.Sc in Physics in 1990, and completed her Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering 1994. |
| Dr Charlotte Armah | Charlotte Armah, is a Nutritional Biochemist at the Institute of Food Research , Norwich. Her research is concerned with the effect on human health of diet, most recently the effects on cardiovascular health of a particular variety of broccoli. Charlotte read Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Sussex, 1988-1991. She completed an MSc in Biochemical Pharmacology at the University of Southampton, 1994-1995, worked as a Research Technician in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Bath then completed a PhD (1996-2000) in ‘Food Biophysics’ at the Institute of Food Research [IFR], Norwich |
| Dr James Jackson Brown | James Jackson Brown was born in the St Thomas district of Jamaica. He attended Kingston private schools (York Castle and Jamaica College) and studied medicine Canada. He came to England where he enrolled at the London Hospital on 22 September 1905. Brown had worked as a dresser for Jonathan Hutchinson, a well-known surgeon, Oct-Dec 1909; and also at the London Hospital, as a clinical clerk for Dr later Lord Dawson, who became King George V’s physician. Dr Brown started his medical practice at 115 King Edward Road (Post Office London Directory, 1916) then to 96 Lauriston Road, moving to number 63 (Post Office London Directory, 1921). For over seventy years this was home to four black doctors – Brown, his son Gerald, Colin Franklin (born Barbados) and Franklin’s daughter. Brown was well known to other Black folk, especially after he established an all-black cricket team, the Africs, by the 1920s. He knew lawyer Samuel Spencer Alfred Cambridge (born British Guiana) by 1913, and also Dr John Alcindor (born Trinidad, a practitioner in west London, and keen cricketer) at that time. His team lacked a playing field so all games were away – the students, lawyers and doctors were free one day a week and Saturdays. |
| Leeroy Brown | Leeroy invented the Airjack 2000. It is powered from the car’s cigarette lighter and uses a compressor to inflate a rubber airbag, which raises the car safely and easily. |
| Jon Chase | Jon Chase is a freelance science communicator, author and rapper based in South Wales. Having completed an honours degree in Aerospace Engineering he then gained a BSc in Science and Science Fiction and a Masters degree in Communicating Science. Jon was also an associate lecturer at the University of Glamorgan for a year following graduation. He was identified by the Guardian in 2008 as education’s next best thing after producing a science rap video for NASA about astrobiology. |
| John Edmonstone | John Edmonstone was one of Charles Darwin’s teachers in Edinburgh. He was a freed slave from a plantation in what is now Guyana. Darwin paid John to give him lessons about taxidermy, as well as the flora and fauna of South America, to help him prepare for his voyage south on the HMS Beagle. |
| Dr Alan Powell Goffe | Alan Goffe was born in Britain in 1920 to a Jamaican father and an English mother, both of whom were physicians. During the 50s and 60s, Dr Goffe was one of a group of microbiologists who helped develop and improve vaccines designed to fight two of the world’s most deadly infectious diseases: polio and measles. But less than a year after he established his own department at the Wellcome Research Laboratories, he was tragically killed in a yachting accident, aged just 46. |
| Dr Yvonne Greenstreet | Dr. Yvonne Greenstreet is Chief Operating Officer of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. She possesses 25 years of global experience in the pharmaceutical industry, where she has been in senior roles in research and development, strategy, and portfolio management. She has successfully led product development and commercialization teams in a wide range of therapy areas, bringing new medicines to patients. |
| Ron Headley | Ron Headley was born in 1939 in Kingston, Jamaica and moved to England at the age of 13. Like his father Sir George Headley, he played cricket internationally for the West Indies. His son Dean Headley played 15 cricket tests for England. Ron invented the Eco-charger. The eco-charger improves the performance of diesel cars because it reduces smoke emission, fuel consumption and allows car to run for 150,000 miles without major maintenance. |
| Dr James Africanus Beale Horton | Africanus Horton was a surgeon, scientist, soldier, and a political thinker who worked toward African independence a century before it occurred. In his varied career, he served as a physician, an officer in the British Army, a banker, and a mining entrepreneur. In addition, he wrote a number of books and essays, the most widely remembered of which is his 1868 Vindication of the African Race, an answer to the white racist authors emerging in Europe. |
| Dr Chris Imafidon | According to the BBC, Prof. Chris Imafidon is one of the leaders in modern informatics and education. He is a multi-winning scientist and researcher. Chris is also a consultant for the industry leaders and government. His main field of work is connected with education, he has lectured in universities, like Cambridge, Harvard, Oxford, Columbia, Cornell. |
| Dr Harold Moody | Dr Harold Moody was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1882. In 1904 he came to London to study medicine, and in February 1913 he set up his own successful practice in Peckham. The racial prejudice he faced as a student and then as a qualified doctor motivated his campaign for the rights of Black people. In March 1931 he became one of the founders of the League of Coloured Peoples. Its aims were to highlight the problems and successes of Black people, to challenge racial discrimination and fight for equality. He served as the League’s President until his death in 1947. |
| Dr Uchenna Okoye | Dr Uchenna Okoye is the Clinical Director of the London Smiling Dental Group. London Smiling is a Beautiful, high profile Cosmetic Dental Practice in the heart of Central London. Dr Okoye is one of the UK’s leading high profile dentists. She was awarded European Professional Black Woman of the year 2006, was voted one of the 50 most influential Black women in the UK 2007 and is on the Power List 2008 an honour recognized by Prime Minister. |
| Chi Onwurah | Chinyelu Susan Onwurah is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central since the 2010 general election. She was shadow minister for Industrial Strategy, Science and Innovation under Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn from October 2016 until 9 April 2020, when she was appointed as shadow minister for Science, Research & Digital by new leader Keir Starmer. Onwurah graduated from Imperial College London in 1987 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. She worked in hardware and software development, product management, market development and strategy for a variety of mainly private sector companies in a number of different countries – the UK, France, the United States, Nigeria and Denmark while studying for an MBA at Manchester Business School. Prior to entering Parliament, Onwurah was Head of Telecoms Technology at Ofcom, with a focus on broadband provision. |
| Dr Eyman Osman | Dr Eyman Osman is a Science education and research consultant (molecular biology and genetics, gene therapy, public engagement and full-time geek), full-time blogger and sometimes photographer. She is best known for her groundbreaking research for the novel field of gene therapy applications and her public science engagement work, especially The Rocket show which is a live science show for Keys Stage 2 and 3 science at The Science Museum London. |
| Dr Donald Palmer | Donald Palmer is a Senior Lecturer in Immunology in the Comparative Biomedical Sciences Department of the Royal Veterinary College, London. His research is concerned with the role of the thymus in the ageing of the immune system, and the identification of ‘novel markers’ on the surfaces of cells. |
| Dr Geoff Palmer | Sir Godfrey Henry Oliver Palmer OBE is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Life Sciences at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, and a human rights activist. He discovered the barley abrasion process whilst a researcher at the Brewing Research Foundation from 1968 to 1977. In 1998, Palmer became the fourth person, and the first European, to be honoured with the American Society of Brewing Chemists Award of Distinction, considered the “Nobel prize of brewing”. In 1989, he became the first black professor in Scotland, becoming a professor emeritus after he retired in 2005. He was knighted in the 2014 New Year Honours. |
| Professor Sir Bernard Ribeiro | Bernard Francisco Ribeiro, Baron Ribeiro, CBE, FRCS is a British surgeon who served as President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England from 2005 to 2008. He was created a life peer in 2010 and sits in the House of Lords on the Conservative benches |
| Dr Mark Richards | Dr Mark Richards has a BSc in Chemistry (Manchester) and a PhD in Physics from Imperial College London. Mark is also an active member of Imperial As One – the Universities’ Race Equality Advisory Group, and has been involved in numerous widening participation and outreach programs that aim to encourage more students from diverse backgrounds to pursue science and engineering as career choices. |
| Dr James Samuel Risien Russel | James Samuel Risien Russell was a renowned neurologist, acclaimed professor, and the first Black British consultant. He became a member of the RCP in 1891 and was elected a fellow in 1897. Russell was born in British Guiana (now Guyana) to a Scottish father and a mother of African descent. Russell was privately educated in Scotland and studied medicine and surgery at Edinburgh University between 1882 – 1886. He was an exceptional scholar and his Edinburgh Doctorate of Medicine was awarded the gold medal for outstanding achievement in 1893. |
| Mary Seacole | Mary Seacole was British-Jamaican nurse, healer and businesswoman who set up the “British Hotel” behind the lines during the Crimean War. She was posthumously awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit in 1991. In 2004, she was voted the greatest black Briton. |
| Peter Sesay | Peter invented the Autosafe. This simple device allows kids’ seatbelts to be easily adjusted by height, so that the seatbelt doesn’t irritate the child. Peter featured on Dragon’s Den securing £100,000 for 50% of the company. |
| Dr Samantha Tross | Dr Samantha Tross is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon practicing in London. She specializes treating conditions of the hip and knee. She became a Consultant in 2005 and was the first female of Afro-Caribbean descent in the UK to do so. In 2018, she scored another first by becoming the first woman in Europe to perform Mako robotic hip surgery. Born in Guyana, South America, she came to England aged 11. She graduated from University College London in 1992. |
| Tony Waithe | Tony Waithe is a serial inventor. He won the World Bronze medal from the largest International Inventions Exhibition, Salon Inventions 1999 in Geneva. His goal is to inspire students in schools with a new way of Inventing. Tony is a member of NELC (National Employers Liaison Committee) working to bridge the gap between Education & the world of Business & Industry. |
| Dr Sir Arthur Wint | Arthur Wint was Jamaica’s first great Olympian. He was not only an athlete, but an airman, a doctor and a diplomat as well. He gained his “wings” in 1944, and saw active service as a Spitfire pilot in the Second World war. Wint left the RAF in 1947, having won a scholarship to train as a doctor. He qualified as a doctor in 1953 In 1955, Arthur Wint went back to Jamaica. He worked as the only doctor and surgeon in Hanover Parish for many years, and in 1973 was awarded the Jamaican Order of Distinction for his service to charities, schools and business. |
