Born in Waycross, GA on August 22, 1926, Dr. William Conan Davis served as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the Korean War; receiving a Purple Heart in 1953. In adolescent days, his father drove he and his brother Kenneth to the Tuskegee Institute to attend a workshop with thee George Washington Carver and Henry Ford. It was here that his love for Chemistry blossomed. Davis received a B.S. in Chemistry at Talladega College, a Masters of Science in Organic Chemistry at Tuskegee, and was the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. at the University of Idaho. Dr. William Conan Davis thesis research, contrary to irony, involved the potato. He applied for the Industrial Research Dept. at Washington State to study the buildup of particles on saw blades in lumber mills. He identified arabinogalactan, which at the time.. no one knew how to use. Davis was able to isolate the substance within fried potato chips and added arabinogalactans to the potato mixtures. There... Instant Mashed Potatoes was created.
An Inventor, Professor, Research Scientist, and a 'first' in African-American history, Dr. William Conan Davis resume stretched long. Other notable achievements on his resume, but not limited to, are:
- Started a herbal medicine business, the only source of medical care accessible to many Black people in Georgia
- Identified a sugar during his research that would later be used to make soft-serve ice cream
- Discovered a wood sugar from industrial glue to make compressed wood
- Learned radioimmunoassay techniques for diabetic patients at the Bronx Veteran's Affairs Hospital
- Developed standardized blood tests for insulin as well as growth hormones
- Spent over a decade as the Director of United Medical Laboratories
- Worked with Kent Ford/Portland Black Panther Party to establish the Fred Hampton Memorial Clinic, which offered free medical services
- Chair of the Natural Sciences Dept. and Director of Renewable Energy at St. Philip's College.
- Studied water characteristics and became a co-creator to the formula of the Coca-Cola product, Dasani water
Dr. William Conan Davis recently passed away in 2022 at the age of 95, but his mark on the world will live forever.
Thank you.
Related Post: Meet Marie Van Brittan Brown: The Inventor of the First Home Security System #BlackHistoryMonth
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