Ernest Everett Just

 

• February 2, 1915: Biologist Ernest E. Just receives Spingarn Medal for research in fertilization and cell division.

• Just was born on August 14, 1883, in Charleston, South Carolina, to Charles Frazier and Mary Matthews Just. Known as an intelligent and inquisitive student, Just studied at Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire before enrolling at Dartmouth College.

• Just's first job out of college was as a teacher and researcher at the traditionally all-Black Howard University.

• From 1920 to 1931, he was a Julius Rosenwald Fellow in Biology of the National Research Council — a position that provided him the chance to work in Europe when racial discrimination hindered his opportunities in the United States. During this time, Just penned many research papers, including the 1924 publication "General Cytology," which he co-authored with respected scientists from Princeton University, the University of Chicago, the National Academy of Sciences and the Marine Biological Laboratory.

• In 1940, the German Nazis imprisoned Just in a camp, but, with the help of his wife's father, he was released.

• Ernest Just died of pancreatic cancer in Washington, D.C., on October 27, 1941. He is buried at the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Suitland, Maryland.