"Ralph-Alexander-Gardner"(March 12,1922-

He was an African-American scientists who specialized in the development of hard plastics.Ralph was born in Cleveland to Vivian Hicks Gardner,a teacher and housewife,and Clarence Chavous Gardner,a musician and government worker.His mama earned a degree from the University of Illinois.While in the eight and ninth grade Ralph realized that chemistry was his direction in life.He attended the Cleveland Public Schools,graduating from John Adams High School.


He began college at the Case School of  Applied Science in 1939 Ralph grew disillusioned with the treatment he received there.As the African-American student in their cooperative program (designed to find work for its students),he found it demeaning to be told that the school's efforts to find him a job in hospital kitchen or as a busboy were fruitless.He transferred to the University of  California Berkley,then back home to eventually graduate from the University of Illinois School of Chemistry in 1943.Ralph took a research post at the University of Chicago's Argonne National Laboratory.For the next four-and-a half years,Ralph was employed on classified plutonium research on the Manhattan project,which resulted in the United States developing the atomic bomb,the of which ended World War II in 1945.


He worked under unclear scientist Dr.Enrico Femi and radioactivity scientists Dr.Nathan Sugarman.Ralph was one of  more than a dozen African-American scientists who were involved in research on the atomic project.Those African-American known to have been involved in the metallurgical laboratories also included Lloyd Albert Quarterman,  Edward A.Russell,Moddie Taylor,Harold Delaney,Benjamin Franklin Scott,Jessie Ernest Wilkins,and Jasper Jefferies.A second group at Columbia University included George Dewitt Turner,Cecil Goldsburg White,Oliver Thompson,William Jacob Knox,and George Warren Reid,Jr.Despite his work on the atomic bomb,George could not find an academic position in his field when he left Argonne in 1947 so he worked as a waiter until 1949.


Known most of his life as Ralph Alexander Gardner,he added the "Chavis" surname late in his career in recognition of his relationship to John Chavis, in1760 the first African American to graduate from Princeton.In 1949,Ralph became a research chemist and project  leader at the Standard  Oil Company in Ohio,where he remained for also 20 years.Ralph completed his graduate studies at  Case Western Reserve in Cleveland,earning  both a master's degree and Ph.D.In chemistry in 1952 and 1959.Respectively.Ralph then a took a teaching position in Cleveland State University's Chemistry Department,where he remained full-time from 1968-1985.


He later combined part-time teaching with work in the research lab of  Molecular Technology Corp.,a private firm where he also served as the Vice President of research on the board of directors.Currently,he holds emeritus status in the CSU Chemistry Department,where he continues his research on catalysis and molecular technology.Topics on which he has published numerous scholarky articles.