Carolyn Branch Brooks
Personal Information
Born: 1946
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: Black
Education
1968 BS, 1971 MS Biology, Tuskeegee University; 1977, PhD Microbiology, Ohio State University
Professional Life
Field of Study: Microbiology; Agricultural Productivity
Institution/Corporation: UMSE
Degrees & Memberships: none
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1988, White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges & Universities Award; 1990, Award from Maryland Association for Higher Education; 2013, George Washington Carver Public Service Hall of Fame Award; Minton Laureate, American Society of Microbiologists; USDA NIFA Hall of Fame; named 1 of Marylands 100 Top Women; Excellence in Leadership Award, Experiment Station Section, Association of Public Land Grant Universities; named Distinguished African American Scientist of the 20th Century; UMES National Alumni Association Faculty Award for Excellence & Achievement; 2018, UMES Faculty Member Emerita
Achievements: research in immunoogy (T-cell), nutrition of the elderly, & crop productivity;
Born & raised in Richmond,VA; when her family moved to the westside in the 1950s she still wanted to attend her old school so she rode the public bus daily across town sitting behind the driver, unaware that as an African-American she was supposed to sit in the back of the bus
Got married after her sophomore year at college & gave birth to 2 sons before graduating in 1968
Her research focused on how T-cells destroy the malaria parasite Plasmodium; then the nutritional needs of the elderly where she discovered there was a connection between trace amounts of minerals in a patient's hair & diet enabling the recognition of some medical problems caused by poor diets
At the University of Maryland Eastern Shore researched agricultural productivity
1984-1985, travelled to Togo & Senegal in West Africa & developed method to increase productivity of African groundnut leading to increased productivity in food crops