7. Frederick M. Jones
Frederick M. Jones is an African American inventor, who patented numerous refrigeration methods. Jones built the first refrigerated truck in 1935 and during the Second World War, the US government required portable refrigerated storages for transporting blood supplies, medicines and perishable foods to distant areas.
During his productive career, Jones successfully filed 61 patents; 40 for refrigeration technology and the rest went to portable X-ray equipments. The American Society of Refrigeration Engineers inducted him, the first African-American to join the society. In 1991, President George Bush awarded the National Medal of Technology to Jones’ widow, also the first African-American to earn it.