Howard Alumni Make Great Strides in Various Fields

Patricia Era Bath

Ophthalmologist, inventor and scholar, Bath attended the Howard University College of Medicine and received her doctoral degree in 1968. She is the first African-American woman to serve on staff as a surgeon and first to be elected to the honorary staff of the UCLA Medical Center. Bath is the first African-American female doctor to receive a patent for a medical purpose and the first to serve as a resident in ophthalmology at New York University.

Dr. Rhadi Bullard Ferguson 

Ferguson is a 4-time U.S. National Judo Champion, a 2004 Judo Olympian, and the only African-American male with a Ph.D. to fight on an internationally televised Mixed Martial Arts Event. Ferguson is currently a MMA fighter for Strikeforce.

Sharon Pratt Kelly

From 1991 to 1995, Kelly served as the third mayor of the District of Columbia. She was the first African-American woman to serve as mayor of a major American city and the only woman to have served as mayor of Washington, D.C.

Kamala Harris

Receiving her bachelor of arts in 1986, Kamala Harris went on to receive a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. In 2003, she was elected as the first female District Attorney in the history of San Francisco, Calif. In Jan. 2011, Harris became the first female African-American attorney general in California.

David Dinkins

Dinkins graduated magna cum laude from Howard University with a degree in mathematics. In 1990, he became the first African-American mayor of New York City and is still the only African American to hold the position.

Charlotte E. Ray

In 1869, Ray registered in the school of law under the name C.E. Ray because of the school's policy on admitting women. In 1872, she became the first woman to graduate from the Howard University School of Law and the first black female lawyer in the United States.

Mike Espy

After graduating from Howard University with a law degree in 1975, Espy later served in the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi. He was the first African-American Secretary of Agriculture.