EMMETT CHAPPELLE
WORLD RENOWNED SCIENTIST
October 25, 1925 (age 89)PHOEIX, AR
EDUCATION:
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
BERKELEY
PHOENIX COLLEGE
A scientist who made valuable contributions in several fields: medicine, philanthropy, food
science, and Astro chemistry.
Dr. Chappelle has been honored as one of the 100 most distinguished African American
scientists of the 20th Century.
In 2007 Emmett Chappelle was inducted to the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his work on
Bio luminescence
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Chappelle earned a B.S. from the University of California and an M.S.
from the University of Washington. He joined NASA in 1977 as a remote sensing scientist.
Among Chappelle’s discoveries is a method (developed with Grace Picciolo) of instantly
detecting bacteria in water, which led to the improved diagnoses of urinary tract infections.