During his time at Yale, he did research on optics and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society. After earning the degree, Mr. Bouchet taught chemistry and physics at the School for Colored Youth, a Quaker institution in Philadelphia, for 26 years.

Today, the Bouchet Society, founded at Yale and Howard universities, recognizes scholarly achievement and promotes diversity and excellence in doctoral education.

This year, a plaque honoring Mr. Bouchet was unveiled on the Yale campus.

“It’s pretty inspiring to think that [Bouchet] got his Ph.D. so long ago, when racism was a million times more worse and more ingrained than it is now,” one physics major told The Yale Daily News.

Karen Zraick contributed reporting.

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