Dr. JOHN BROOKS SLAUGHTER
March 16, 1934
Computer Scientist
First African-American director of the National
Science Foundation (NSF)
Education: University of California
Kanas State University
University of California
sHe is an American electrical engineer and former college president who served as the first African-American director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). His work focuses on the development of computer algorithms for system optimization and discrete signal processing.
Dr. Slaughter was born in Topeka, Kansas, on March 16, 1934. His father, Reuben Brooks Slaughter, was hard-working and held a variety of jobs to support his family; and, his mother, Dora Reeves Slaughter, was a homemaker. Slaughter graduated from Topeka High School in 1951 and enrolled at Washburn University, but transferred after two years to attend Kansas State University. There, he earned his B.S. degree in electrical engineering in 1956. Slaughter went on to receive his Ph.D. in engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1961, and his Ph.D. in engineering sciences from the University of California, San Diego in 1971.