Explore African American contributions at the University of Georgia through the self-guided Steps Towards Inclusion site tour, featuring 10 locations across the UGA Athens campus. The Steps Towards Inclusion tour can be completed in person during the month of February or online year-round through our immersive virtual experience.
Shirley Mathis McBay Science Library
210 D.W. Brooks Drive, Athens, GA
In 1966, Dr. Shirley McBay was a trailblazing mathematician and UGA’s first African American Ph.D. graduate. This is notable for many reasons, including that the first Ph.D. was not awarded at UGA until 1951, and the University had desegregated in 1961. The UGA Science Library was renamed in McBay’s honor in December 2021.
McBay also earned master’s degrees in math and chemistry from Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University). After serving as a math professor at Spelman College, McBay became MIT’s dean for student affairs and chair of the National Science Foundation’s committee on equal opportunity in science and engineering. McBay was an early champion of the need for diversity in the STEM fields, founding the Quality Education for Minorities Network, a nonprofit she led for two decades.
