Final answer:
Booker T. Washington, an influential African American educator, was hired to teach at Tuskegee Institute with a focus on vocational training. He believed in practical education to improve the lives of African Americans, involving job training in agriculture and industry.
Step-by-step explanation:
The famous scientist hired to teach at Tuskegee Institute was Booker T. Washington, who was a renowned African American educator. His area of expertise was not in a traditional scientific field, but rather in practical education aimed at improving the lives and skills of African Americans after the Civil War. Washington founded the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in 1881, focusing on vocational training that included agriculture and industry labor to foster self-reliance and economic empowerment within the African American community.
Under Washington's leadership, Tuskegee significantly impacted the education of African Americans, promoting the importance of practical skills and labor to uplift the community. The institute emphasized training in jobs that were in demand, advocating for self-improvement and economic progress as paths to earning respect and societal status. Despite facing financial struggles early on, Washington's persistent fundraising and hands-on approach even included making bricks and constructing the school buildings with the help of his students.
Booker T. Washington's ideology was influenced by his mentor, General Samuel C. Armstrong, the president of Hampton Institute. Tuskegee's educational model was based on the Hampton model, with an emphasis on industrial education as a means for moral uplift and creating a disciplined, skilled labor force. This approach to education was part of a larger debate between Washington and other African American leaders, such as W. E. B. Du Bois, regarding the best path forward for Black education and empowerment in America.