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George Langford
George Langford is a prominent African-American scientist who specializes in cell biology and the nerves of invertebrate ocean life. He is also a professor who is dedicated to the education of African-American students. In both of these positions, he has excellent role models. As a teacher, he is following in the footsteps of his grandparents, who started schools for African Americans in the South. As a scientist, his career is very similar to that of E. Ernest Just, an African-American cell biologist who conducted important research in invertebrate ocean animals in the early twentieth century. George has the opportunity to bring these connections together in his position as E. E. Just Professor in Natural Sciences at Dartmouth College.George grew up in North Carolina, the youngest of nine children. With his family's background in teaching, he decided to follow his interest in science as well by attending Fayetteville State Teachers College. At first, he hoped to become a high school science teacher. However, his teachers encouraged his study of biology and George went on to earn a Ph.D. from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He then began a career as a college professor, teaching at the University of Massachusetts, Howard University, and the University of North Carolina. He also went to France to conduct research. Every summer, he goes to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where he has a biology lab at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Ironically, E. Ernest Just also did much of his research at Woods Hole.
George says that the Just Professorship was a very important factor in his decision to go to Dartmouth. He says, "As far as I know, it's the first [position] in the biological sciences honoring an African-American scientist." George wants to use his position to attract more minority students into the sciences and to provide an active research environment for students to become involved in real scientific work. George thinks it is very important for minority scientists to find diverse groups with whom they can work. When he was a young researcher, he often felt isolated as the only African American working in a lab. Today, he is able to seek out diverse groups of students and to encourage his students to find collaborators from different backgrounds.
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