John Brooks Slaughter (March 16, 1934 – December 6, 2023) was an American electrical engineer and college president who served as the first African-American director of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

[1] His work focused on the development of computer algorithms for system optimization and discrete signal processing.

[2][3] Slaughter took a civilian position at the United States Navy Electronics Laboratory in San Diego in 1960.

He joined the NSF in 1977 as assistant director for Astronomics, Atmospherics, Earth and Ocean Sciences.

Slaughter died on December 6, 2023, while receiving treatment at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, California.