Henry Sampson (inventor)

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Henry Thomas Sampson (born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1934) is an American inventor. He is considered one of the many brilliant black inventors today.

He graduated from high school in the year 1951 from Lainer High School, located in Jackson Mississippi. After Graduating he attended Morehouse College for a couple of years before transferring to Purdue University. He received a Bachelor's degree in science from Purdue University in 1956. He graduated with an MS degree in engineering from the University of California, in 1961. Sampson also received his MS in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, in 1965, and his PhD in 1967.

Sampson was employed as a research chemical engineer at the U.S. Naval Weapons Center, China Lake, California, in the area of high energy solid propellants and case bonding materials for solid rocket motors. Henry Sampson also served as the Director of Mission Development and Operations of the Space Test Program at the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California.

His patents included a binder system for propellants and explosives and a case bonding system for cast composite propellants. Both inventions are related to solid rocket motors. He also received a patent, which George H. Miley, for a gamma-electrical cell on July 6, 1971.

Sampson is credited for the invention of the Gamma-Electric cell, which "made it possible to convert Nuclear radiation from reactors of isotopes, directly into electricity without going through a heat cycle. In the nuclear fission process, which involves the splitting of atom, radioactive materials emit ionizing radiation that can cause serious damage to living tissues. Constuctive methods to conver these powerful radiating energies into practical and safe energy sources, is the fundamental philosophy behind the devolopment of the Gamma-Electric Cell."

Besides inventing the Gamma-Electric Cell, Sampson is also a writer and film historian. He wrote the book called Blacks in Black and White: A Source Book on Black Films. In this book, Sampson writes about the behaviors of African American film makers and entertainers who have been overlooked and unnoticed by film historians between the years 1910 to 1950 giving plenty of useful and interesting history of the African American film industry. In addition he wrote the book, “The Ghost Walks: A Chronological History of Blacks in Show Business, 1865-1910”. Henry Sampson is also known for producing documentary films on African American film makers. Besides being a writer and film historian, Sampson associated with the Board of Directors of Los Angeles Southwest College Foundation, as well as a technical consultant to Historical Black Colleges and Universities Program.

Throughout Henry Sampson’s life, he has achieved many awards and honors. Some of his most known accomplishments include being a member of the US Navy between the years 1962 and 1964 and earning an Atomic Energy Commission honor between 1964 and 1967. Later he was awarded the Black Image Award from Aerospace Corp in 1982. Finally, he was awarded the Blacks in Engineering, Applied Science Award, and prize for education, by the Los Angeles Council of Black Professional Engineers in 1983.