Henry Cecil Ransom McBay Biography

Henry Cecil Ransom McBay

Initially planning to enter medical school, Henry McBay decided instead to study chemistry, earning a B.S. degree in 1934 from Wiley University, a master's degree from Atlanta University in 1936, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1945. McBay was long a professor of chemistry at Morehouse College in Atlanta, serving from 1960 to 1981 as Chair of the department. McBay's research with acetyl peroxide—with which many other scientists refused to work because of its volatile nature—led to the synthesis of a hormone used in the treatment of prostate cancer. Also influential in the classroom, 45 of McBay's students earned a Ph.D. in chemistry.