Alberta Jones Seaton (December 24, 1924 – April 4, 2014) was one of the first African-American women awarded a doctorate in zoology, in Belgium in 1949.

[1] She then moved to East Africa, where she and her husband became involved in African independence movements and she developed an academic career.

[5] Born in Houston, she became a longterm professor of biology at Texas Southern University (TSU), where she also served as first chair of the Faculty Assembly and director of freshman studies.

[1] Jones spent the summer after graduation working at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

[14][15] In 1949, the Seatons became involved in the East African independence movement when they met Thomas Marealle from Tanganyika and Mbiyu Koinange, a Kenyan in exile, in London.

[2][3] Earle Seaton moved to Tanganyika as soon as he gained his legal qualification, and Alberta followed in 1949 after completing her doctoral work.

[2] Seaton continued with her academic career and managed her family's homes in Tanzania and Houston, Texas, sometimes traveling with her husband.

[2] She taught periodically at Makerere University in Uganda, where she was a visiting professor of biology and embryology from 1952 to 1953, and at Wiley College in Texas.

[1] She also spent time as a research fellow at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), studying antibodies and cell division in sea-urchin eggs.

[4] Earle Seaton died of a heart attack in 1992 in New York City, when he was traveling on vacation from his last post as a judge in Uganda.