By Amy Burtch
The story of Lizzie Johnson Harrell is one of firsts.
The oldest of 13 children, she was a first-generation college graduate. She was one of the first African American college graduates to be hired by the Dupont Company to work in a research laboratory. In 1978, she became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in microbiology at NC State University.
At Duke University, she was the first full-time African American faculty member in a basic science department in the School of Medicine. And in 1991, she became one of the first African Americans to be board-certified by the American Board of Medical Microbiology.
With such a storied academic and professional career defined by firsts, there’s no surprise Harrell received a 2025 CALS Outstanding Alumni Award last fall — except perhaps from Harrell herself.
“I was surprised by earning this award and all the positive feedback I’ve received,” she says. “I hope I have lived up to the expectation of what this award stands for.”
Hearing her story, it’s certainly clear she has and then some.
A Spark for Science
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial satellite, into space. According to Harrell, the United States “went wild” with having to improve its science.
Always a good student and already drawn to science, thanks to proficient science and math teachers in grade school, Harrell says this historical event solidified her desire and intention of being a scientist.
After finishing as valedictorian of Union High School in Shallotte, North Carolina, a rural coastal community, she attended North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in Durham, where she majored in biology and chemistry, graduating cum laude in 1965.
“My excellent professors at NCCU introduced me to the clinical side of science, not just the research side,” she says.
Following graduation, Harrell started her career as a research technician for DuPont in Delaware, researching Influenza A antivirals.
Passion for Microbiology
While at DuPont, Harrell married Sampson Harrell, whom she met in her biology and chemistry classes at NCCU. The couple returned to North Carolina in 1968, which is when she feels her microbiology journey truly began, first working in the Pediatric Research Laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for one year and then pursuing her master’s degree there while her husband attended medical school.
Her mentor at Carolina was Dr. Janet Fischer, the first female professor of medicine at UNC. With Fischer, she conducted research on special types of bacteria called anaerobes, which do not grow in the presence of oxygen, with the goal of understanding how to identify them in clinical specimens.
“I really enjoyed the microbiology laboratory and could see how it related to patient care and research,” Harrell says.
After earning her master’s in bacteriology and immunology in 1971, Harrell utilized her microbiology expertise working in the Infectious Diseases Research Lab at the Washington VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where she helped diagnose infections in veterans who had served in the Vietnam War.
Mentorship + Momentum at NC State
Landing back in Durham, North Carolina, a few years later, Harrell spent six months working in Duke’s Clinical Microbiology Laboratory before pursuing a doctoral program in microbiology at NC State in 1975.
A young mother at this point, she not only commuted to school but was 10 years older than most of her classmates, one of very few women and one of only two African Americans in her cohort. But she recalls having a symbiotic relationship with her peers and professors.
“I had strong academic and lab experience, so they saw my good time management and focusing skills,” she says. “They taught me what had changed in academia since my master’s program.”
Harrell reflects fondly on working with James B. Evans, chair of the microbiology department during her time at NC State, calling him the best professor and mentor she could have ever expected. She shares that Evans was not only respectful and supportive but also encouraged her intellectual growth by asking challenging questions.
“When in professional meetings, he introduced me to everyone,” she says. “I quickly learned the more people you know in your field, the better it is.”
With Evans, she studied staphylococci, a bacterium that causes diseases like skin infections and pneumonia and may be resistant to commonly used antibiotics (MRSA). When treating these infections in closed spaces like abscesses, the environment is anaerobic. Therefore, they sought to see the effects of antibiotics under anaerobic versus aerobic conditions — a perfect opportunity for Harrell to use her earlier experience to find new solutions.
A Distinguished Career
While at NC State, Harrell thought she would pursue strict research but admits something kept pulling her back to the clinical area — and so back to Duke she went.
A basic-level position in the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory led to a supervisory role, which eventually led to her becoming the associate director of clinical microbiology and a 33-year career at Duke’s School of Medicine. She was also a professor in molecular genetics and microbiology as well as pathology.
Harrell even started the molecular section of Duke’s Clinical Microbiology Laboratory.
“With microbiology, it’s often a slow process to diagnose infections because you are dealing with living microorganisms,” she says. “With molecular methods, you detect DNA and RNA rapidly with sophisticated instruments, leading to rapid treatment for patients.”
While at Duke, Harrell served in many capacities. After becoming a board-certified microbiologist, she was selected for a fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology and worked as an advisor for both the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration.
Harrell also believed in lifting up others in the science profession.
“I always had an open door policy,” she says. “I tried to mentor and train the next generation of medical technologists, physicians and other healthcare professionals, so they were prepared for various positions in this country and the world.”
In fact, to encourage more people from different backgrounds in the field of microbiology, she worked with the American Society for Microbiology’s minority mentoring program to support the next generation of microbiologists.
A Legacy of Leadership
It’s evident that Harrell is more than worthy of the 2025 CALS Outstanding Alumni Award.
And to make things even sweeter, her NC State legacy continues in her family as her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter are all proud Wolfpack graduates.
Harrell wants current CALS students and young alumni to realize that if she can build a career in science, they can too.
“A lot was given to me, and I wanted to give back to others,” she says. “I just hope I did a good job of being a scientist and of being a person.”