Millie Bown Russell (1926-2021) was born and raised in Seattle’s Central Area, and graduated from Seattle University (SU) in 1948, the first African American to graduate from the school’s medical technology program. She worked at Puget Sound Blood Center for over 25 years, and returned to SU in 1971 to receive a secondary science-teaching certificate. She received an M.S. in kinesiology from the University of Washington in 1978, and a Ph.D. in Education in 1988.
Dr. Russell began working at the University of Washington in 1974, first as director of the Preprofessional Program for Minority Students in Health Sciences, and later as Assistant to the Vice President, Office of Minority Affairs, and as an instructor in the biological sciences. At UW, she also founded the Early Scholars Outreach Program, which prepared minority and disadvantaged middle-school students and their families for college. She was particularly interested in removing barriers to entry into STEM fields. Upon her retirement in 2007, the University of Washington Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity established the Dr. Millie Russell Endowed Scholarship in honor of her lifelong devotion to education and equality, benefiting underrepresented, low-income, first-generation students interested in studying science.
This photo shows Millie Russell speaking before an advisory committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights about the effects of ethnic and racial discrimination in schools on student performance. At the time, Russell was chair of the Coalition for the Education of Black Children. The hearing was held to determine if discrimination is a factor in lower academic achievement and whether it is severe enough to warrant a thorough investigation by the advisory committee.
Caption information source: "Remembering Dr. Millie Bown Russell," November 5, 2021, UW Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity webpage, retrieved at https://www.washington.edu/omad/2021/11/05/remembering-dr-millie-bown-russell/ Caption information source: "Bias hurts minority kids' grades, Seattle hearing told" by Lisa Schnellinger, Seattle Post-INtelligencer, February 15, 1986, p. 1.
