Marron William Fort

Marron William Fort
Born(1906-06-11)June 11, 1906
DiedSeptember 18, 1961(1961-09-18) (aged 55)
Burial placeArlington National Cemetery

Marron William Fort (June 11, 1906 – September 18, 1961) was an American chemist who was the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. in any engineering field.[1] He also was the first African-American to earn a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating with a Ph.D. in chemical engineering in 1933.[2]

Early life and education

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 11, 1906, to Irene Fort and her husband, Fort attended Cambridge High and Latin School, graduating on June 18, 1918.[3] He entered Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1922, graduating with an S.B. in 1926 and an S.M. in 1927, both in electrical engineering. In 1933, he completed a Ph.D. in the Department of Chemistry with a dissertation entitled "Heat of Dilution of Hydrochloric Acid by Continuous Flow Calorimetry".[4]

Career

During World War II, Fort served as chief chemist and plant superintendent of H. and G. J. Caldwell Company in Massachusetts.[5] In 1954, he joined the chemical industries staff at the Advisory Bureau for Commerce of the U.S. Department of Commerce, serving in Tel Aviv, Israel,[2][3] making him the highest ranked African-American appointed to a governmental technical post in a foreign country at that time.[6] In 1957, he joined the International Cooperation Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of State, and then served as deputy chief on the Industrial and Transportation Division, U.S. Operations Mission, of the International Co-op Administration at Ankara, Turkey, until 1959. He became chief of this same division in Pakistan until 1961 when he returned to Washington, D.C., with the Department of State.[2][3]

Death and legacy

Fort died in Washington on September 18, 1961, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.[2] He was survived by his wife Alice (nee Curtiss) and son Marron C. Fort.[7]

In 1973, MIT established a graduate fellowship in Fort's honor. The Fort Fellowship was awarded to "the most promising senior minority student who has been accepted for graduate study at M.I.T."[8][9][10]

References

  1. ^ Hubbard, David. "Engineering and the African-American Experience". Curtis Laws Wilson Library. Missouri University of Science and Technology. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d "Fellowship honors late Dr. Wm. Fort". Indianapolis Recorder. 17 February 1973. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Gordon, Jacob, ed. (2004). The Black Male in White America. New York: Nova Publishers. p. 83. ISBN 1-59033-757-3. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  4. ^ Fort, Marron William (1933). Heat of dilution of hydrochloric acid by continuous flow calorimetry. Cambridge: MIT. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  5. ^ Pursell, Carroll W., ed. (2005). A Hammer in Their Hands: A Documentary History of Technology and the African-American Experience. Cambridge: MIT Press. pp. 247. ISBN 0-262-16225-3.
  6. ^ Staff (April 1, 1954). "Republicans Name Three to High U.S. Posts". Jet. Vol. 5, no. 21. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  7. ^ "Dr. Marron Fort, Govt. Official, Services Today (Obituary)". Boston Globe. September 21, 1961.
  8. ^ "Report of the President and the Chancellor Issue 1972-1973" (PDF). Massachusetts Institute of Technology Bulletin. 109 (4): 253. November 1973. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 January 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  9. ^ "MIT Establishes Fort Scholarship". The Afro-American. February 24, 1973. p. 21. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  10. ^ "Marron William Fort • Cambridge Black History Project". Cambridge Black History Project. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
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