John McNeile Hunter was born in Woodville, Texas in January 23, 1901. He received a Bachelor of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1924 and a Master of Science from Cornell University in 1927. John Hunter earned a Ph.D. in Physics in 1937 from Cornell University. He was served as Professor and Head of the Physics Department at Virginia State College, from 1925 to 1967. Professor McNeile retired to private life in 1968.

Professor John McNeile Hunter's area of research focused on thermoionics.

Dissertation Title: The Anomalous Schottsky Effect for Oxygenated Tungsten.

Memberships:

AAAS
Sigma Xi
Beta Kappa Chi
Sigma pi Sigma
American Physical Society
American Association of Physics Teachers
General Education Board Fellow

AAPT Distinguished Service Citations for 1973, The Physics Teacher (May 1974)
Awarded by the American Association of Physics Teachers at its annual meeting for exceptional contributions to the teaching of physics.

"John M. McNeile, born 73 years ago in Woodville, Texas, has done as much as any single individual in America to add physics to the curriculum of black students and to add black students to the professional rosters of physics. He gave a lifetime of service to Virgina State College, going there in 1925 as teacher of electrical wiring and operator of the power plant. By the time of his retirement in 1968, he had served as Professor of Physics, Director of the Division of Graduate Studies and Research, and Dean of the College, and he had found time to earn a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1937. Of the more than 4000 students taught by John Hunter, over 50 became physicists and engineers. Ten of these are now techers and one is a university president. Of himself, John Hunter says modestly that he could have done more for his students had he not been so involved in helping shape an institution."

Bibliography:

American Men & Women of Science. A Biographical Directory of Today's Leaders in Physical, Biological, and Related Sciences. 12th edition, Physical & Biological Sciences. Seven volumes.
(New York: R.R. Bowker Co.), 1971-1973. p. 2912.

Biography Index. A Cumulative Index to Biographical Material in Books and Magazines. Volume 10: September, 1973-August, 1976.
(New York: H.W. Wilson Co.), 1977. p. 362.

Blacks in Science and Education.
Vivian O. Sammons. (Washington, D.C.: Hemisphere Publishers), 1989. p.126.

Holders of Doctorates Among American Negroes: An Educational and Social Study of Negroes Who Have Earned Doctoral Degrees in Course, 1876-1943
Harry Washington Greene. (Boston, MA: Meador Publishing Co.), 1946. p. 151.

The Negro in Science.
Julius Taylor, editor. (Baltimore, MD: Morgan State College Press), 1955. p. 190.

Who's Who in America. 38th edition, 1974-1975.
(Wilmette, IL: Marquis Who's Who), 1974.

Illustrations:

"AAPT Distinguides Service Citations for 1973."
Physics Teacher (Stony Brook, NY: American Association of Physics Teachers) 12:292 (May 1974). Includes a portrait.

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