Degree(s): Botany

Undergraduate Institution: Iowa State Agricultural College

Graduate Institution: Iowa State Agricultural College

Photo Credit: Tuskegee University Archives/Museum

Mr. George Washington Carver was born into slavery, and became known as one of the world’s most prominent agricultural scientists and inventors. He was the first Black faculty member at Iowa State University, and built a prominent career for almost 50 years as the head of the Agriculture Department at Tuskegee Institute. His work included the development of hundreds of products using soybeans, peanuts, and sweet potatoes. While at Tuskegee, he also created a mobile classroom to teach local farmers methods such as crop rotations and alternative cash crops.