Through out the month of March we have been celebrating Women who have accomplished great things in the STEM world. This week, we are honoring Dr. Gloria Scott who was a leader among women in science and higher education.

Dr. Gloria Dean Randle Scott was the eleventh president of Bennett College located in Greensboro, North Carolina and the first African American president of Girl Scouts of the USA. She received her B.A. degree and M.A. degree in zoology in 1959 and 1960, respectively, and her Ph.D. in higher education in 1965.

In 1961,  Dr. Scott’s career began as a research associate in genetics and embryology at Indiana University Institution for Psychiatric Research. During this time, she worked as a biology instructor at Marion College until 1965, making her the first African American instructor at a predominately white college in Indianapolis, Indiana at the time. Scott held the positions as Dean of Students and Deputy Director of Upward Bound at Knoxville College in 1965 and as the Special Assistant to the President and Educational Research Planning Director at North Carolina A&T University in 1967. She continued to make history by becoming the first African American National President of the Girl Scouts in 1975. In her youth, Scott joined the Junior Girl Scout Troop #155 at Jack Yates School and later noted that the segregated troop provided her with unique experiences and also helped develop her leadership skills.  Scott served as the President of the Negro Girl Scout Senior Planning Board in the 1950s.  During her last year as president of GSA in 1978, the trefoil was redesigned; the new symbol highlighted the diversity of the girl scouts with a silhouette of three girls–black, white, and brown.  Dr.Scott went on to serve  as the Institutional Research Planning Director at Texas Southern University for a year before becoming Vice President at Clark College in Atlanta in 1977.

Source: http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/gloria-scott-41

For more information about Dr. Gloria Scott click here!