This is the last part of a series of blog posts highlighting African Americans in science, technology, engineering and mathematics as part of NTEU’s celebration of Black History Month.
She worked to help bring sight to the blind.
An inventor, physician and educator, Patricia Bath is the first African American to complete a residency in ophthalmology. She invented the Laserphaco Probe for cataract treatment in 1986, and two years later became the first African-American woman to receive a medical patent for the device. With her Laserphaco Probe,
Bath was able to help restore sight to people who had been blind for decades.
Bath went on to co-found the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness, which established that "eyesight is a basic human right."