George Franklin Grant
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Dr. George Franklin Grant | |
|---|---|
.png) Grant in 1870 | |
| Born | September 15, 1846 |
| Died | August 21, 1910 (aged 63) |
| Education | Harvard School of Dental Medicine class of 1870 |
| Occupation(s) | Dentist, academic, inventor |
| Spouse | Georgina H. Smith |
| Children | Maybelle C.Grant (Mrs. Alfred P. Russell) George F. Grant, Jr. Frances O. Grant Theodora Grant, Helene Grant |
| Parent(s) | Phillis Pitt Tudor Elandor Grant |
George Franklin Grant (September 15, 1846 – August 21, 1910) was the first African-American professor at Harvard. He was also a Boston dentist, and an inventor of an early composite golf tee made from wood and natural rubber (specifically, gutta-percha) tubing.[1][2][3]
Grant was born on September 15, 1846, in Oswego, New York, to Phillis Pitt and Tudor Elandor Grant.[4][5] He attended the Bordentown School in Bordentown, New Jersey.[6]
He entered the Harvard Dental School (now the Harvard School of Dental Medicine) in 1868, and graduated in 1870. He then took a position in the department of mechanical dentistry in 1871, making him Harvard University's first African-American faculty member.[7]
Grant was a founding member and later the president of the Harvard Odontological Society and was a member of the Harvard Dental Alumni Association where he was elected president in 1881. In 1899 he improved on Percy Ellis' "Perfectum" tee.[8][9]
Grant died on August 21, 1910, at his vacation home in Chester, New Hampshire, of liver disease.[10]
