Vice Admiral Regina Marcia Benjamin (Born October 25, 1956 in Mobile, AL): Eighteenth Surgeon General of the United States. She is the third African-American and the third female to hold the post of Surgeon General. She is first from Mobile County. She is known for her work in rural health care and is an outspoken voice for health care reform. She is the first black woman and doctor elected to American Medical Association's Board of Trustees. She is the 1998 recipient of the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights. In 2006, she was awarded the papal cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice by Pope Benedict XVI.

George Washington Carver (January 1864- January 1943): American scientist, botanist and educator. Carver was responsible for more than 100 inventions and uses for peanut oil, including but not limited to cosmetics, dyes, paints, gasoline, plastics and nitroglycerin. He promoted the growth of alternative crops in the South, other than cotton, which was depleting the soil of nutrients.

Percy Lavon Julian (April 11, 1899 – April 19, 1975): African American research chemist and a pioneer in the synthesis of medical drugs from plants. Julian was one of the first African Americans to receive a Ph.D. in Chemistry. He is known for his pioneering work in synthesizing human hormones and steroids. Inventor of fire fighting foam based on soy proteins.

Granville Woods (1856-1910): Inventor of numerous devices relating to railroading. His most important invention was the power pick up device that is the basis of the so-called “third rail” used in powered transit systems. He also invented a device that combined the telephone and telegraph that was purchased by Alexander Graham Bell.

Dr. Charles Drew (1904-1950): Authority on the preservation of human blood for transfusion. He is credited with being the father of “blood banks” for developing efficient ways to process and store large quantities of blood plasma.

Lewis Howard Latimer (1848-1928): In 1881, he devised a method for making a carbon filament for light bulbs made by a competitor of Thomas Edison. He also supervised the installation of electrical lights in New York City, Philadelphia, Montreal and London.

Lonnie G. Johnson (1949- ): An engineer who designed spacecraft systems for NASA. Johnson invented the Super Soaker water gun, the best selling toy in American in 1991.

George Carruthers (1939- ): Inventor of the far ultraviolet camera used in the 1972 Apollo 16 mission. This camera revealed new features of the Earth’s far-outer atmosphere and deep-space objects from the perspective of the moon’s surface.

Garrett A. Morgan (1877-1963): Inventor of a breathing device, a hood that allowed wearers to breathe safely in the presence of smoke, gases and other pollutants. The hood was adapted by the United States Army and served as a gas mask in World War I.

Otis Frank Boykin (1920-1982): Inventor and engineer who invented more than 25 electronic devices during his lifetime. His inventions include improved electrical resistors for radios, television, and computers. His most famous invention was a control unit for pacemakers, a device that uses electrical impulses to maintain a regular heartbeat.