The Saint Louis Science Center envisions an equitable and inclusive society where people are passionate about science and use it to improve lives, transform communities and empower future generations. Through exposure to STEM concepts and recognition of contributions made by members of various communities, we aim to inspire and empower individuals from all backgrounds to pursue and thrive in STEM fields.
This March, as we celebrate Deaf History Month, we’re recognizing a few STEM-sational individuals who’ve inspired us all to make an impact.
Dr. Glenn B. Anderson – First Deaf African American to earn a doctorate degree (1945 – Present)
In 1982, Glenn B. Anderson graduated from New York University, becoming the first Deaf African American to earn a doctorate degree after graduating from New York University. Following that degree in counseling, he authored a book and served as a deaf advocate.
Born in Chicago in 1945, Anderson contracted pneumonia at age 7 and became deaf as a complication from the disease. He noted that this, along with his Black heritage, resulted in a number of barriers that he was forced to overcome through hard work. This work resulted in academic and athletic honors during his years at Parker High Schol, including an award for scholar-athlete of the year. After graduating, he enrolled at Northern Illinois University but soon realized he was the only deaf student on campus – encountering bias and discrimination. He then enrolled at Gallaudet University (the world’s only institution of higher education in which all programs are designed to accommodate Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing students), where he became active on campus, changed his major to psychology and became an athletic star in basketball and track. Following graduation from Gallaudet, he earned a master’s degree in counseling from the University of Arizona and then graduated with his doctorate from NYU.
Dr. Anderson began a professional career as a rehabilitation counselor in 1970, after graduating from Arizona. He started with Michigan Rehabilitation Services in Detroit and moved to New York in 1972 to become the Coordinator of the Referral Counseling Program at NYU’s Deafness Research and Training Center. He then established the LaGuardia Community College Program for Deaf Adults from 1975-1982 while completing his doctorate. After New York, he served as Director of Training at the University of Arkansas Rehabilitation Research and Training Center for Persons who are Deaf of Hard of Hearing in Little Rock. He later worked as a professor and coordinated the university’s master’s program in rehabilitation counseling. In 1989, he was appointed to the Board of Trustees at Gallaudet, becoming the second deaf individual elected as the board’s chair, and was a member of the Board of Directors for National Black Deaf Advocates. In 2006, he wrote “Still I Rise: The Enduring Legacy of Black Deaf Arkansans Before and After Integration,” which was also distributed in DVD format using American Sign Language.
While in New York, Dr. Anderson met his wife, Karen. The couple have two children, one of whom (Jamaal) was a defensive end for several National Football League teams during his six-year career.
In recognition for his perseverance, leadership and skill, Dr. Anderson has earned several accolades. On the sports field, he was inducted into the American Athletic Association of the Deaf Hall of Fame and the Gallaudet University Athletic Hall of Fame. For his advocacy and honors, he was awarded the Frederick Schreiber Leadership Award by the National Association of the Deaf, the Linwood Smith Humanitarian Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Black Deaf Advocates. Additionally, in 2004, he was inducted into the National Hall of Fame for Persons with Disabilities. He was also appointed to the National Council of Disability by President George W. Bush from 2002-2005, serving as second vice-chair.
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Dr. Caroline Solomon – Introduced a collection of ASL signs for scientific and technological terms
Dr. Caroline Solomon is an American professor who developed a database of signs in American Sign Language to indicate scientific and technological terms that helped improve the educational experience for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in STEM. She later became the President for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, New York — the first woman to hold this position in the school’s history.
An avid swimmer, Dr. Solomon focused on ways that protecting the environment could help to improve waterways. She became a professor to teach students about the environment but discovered that the vocabulary for STEM themes was limited in American Sign Language. To improve the educational experience for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in STEM and to recruit more of those individuals to STEM careers, she developed a database of signs for those terms.
Raised in Delaware, Solomon contracted spinal meningitis as an infant and became deaf from the complications. She was an excellent swimmer, competing in the Deaflympics as a teenager and later inducted into the Deaflympics Hall of Fame. She credits her interest in protecting the environment from her interest in swimming in a nearby creek that was too polluted. She enrolled at Harvard University after high school and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, receiving magna cum laude honors. She then earned a masters in biological oceanography from the University of Washington and a PhD in biological oceanography from the University of Maryland.
After earning the master’s degree, she joined the faculty at Gallaudet University in 2000, was promoted to full professor in 2011, and became Dean of the Faculty in 2024. Her focus was American waterways like the Chesapeake Bay and Anacostia River in Maryland, where her research studied how algae and bacteria are formed through interactions with human activity.
During her studies and professorship, she discovered that there was a limited vocabulary of STEM terms in American Sign Language, which limited involvement and education in those fields by individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. She worked with colleagues to introduce a database of those terms and associated signs, in order to standardize the wordlist for common scientific terms. In July 2025, she was named President for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf.
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Olof Hanson – considered America’s first Deaf architect (1862 – 1933)
Olof Hanson moved to Minnesota from Sweden in 1875 and loved playing in the snow and ice, but some believe that this outdoor fun led to illnesses that contributed to his loss of hearing as a teenager. After graduating Gallaudet College (now University) with bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and named valedictorian of his class, he became what believed to be the first deaf individual working as an architect in the United States.
After completing his degree from Gallaudet and continuing architectural studies in Europe, Hanson returned to Minnesota and opened an architectural practice on his own. He designed more than 50 buildings across the U.S. (including the North Dakota School for the Deaf, the Kendall School boys’ dormitory at Gallaudet and the Charles Thompson Memorial Hall in St. Paul) and emphasized an open concept that features natural lighting – a precursor to modern principles promoting visual communication (known as DeafSpace). He also designed a hotel in Venezuela.
In honor of his work and for his advocacy for deaf individuals, Hanson earned recognition. He was a member of the World Federation of the Deaf, the Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens and the Puget Sound Association of the Deaf and was named President for the National Association of the Deaf from 1910-1913. In recognition of his contributions, the Governor of Minnesota, Rudy Perpich, renamed the address for the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf as 615 Olof Hanson Drive.
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