5 Amazing Black Mathematicians You Should Know!
Today we are going to take a trip through history and explore some of the most brilliant Black minds in the world of mathematics. Get ready to be inspired and amazed as we learn about some incredible mathematicians and their groundbreaking contributions. From the early 1800's, to the days of the civil rights movement, to the present, these mathematicians have made a huge impact in the field and beyond!
1) Benjamin Banneker
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Self-taught mathematician
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Helped design Washington D.C.
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Astronomer
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Surveyor
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Abolitionist
Benjamin Banneker was a man ahead of his time. Born in Maryland in 1731 to free parents, he was an American astronomer, mathematician, surveyor and so much more. Despite facing significant obstacles due to his race and lack of formal education, Banneker made significant contributions to science and society during his lifetime.
In 1752, Banneker garnered public acclaim by building a clock entirely out of wood. The clock, believed to be the first built in America, kept precise...
2) Katherine Johnson
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Mathematician
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Hidden Figure
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Human Computer
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Aeronautical Icon
Katherine Johnson was a true trailblazer in the field of mathematics. Born in 1918 in West Virginia, Johnson made significant contributions to the field of aeronautics and worked on the first human spaceflight, Project Mercury.
Johnson was known as a "human computer" because...
3) Elbert Frank Cox
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First Black Mathematics PhD
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Educator
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Advocate for Black Mathematicians
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Polynomial Genius
Elbert Frank Cox was the first Black person in the world ever to receive a Ph.D. in Mathematics (1925, Cornell University). In his 40 year-long teaching career, he taught at Howard University and West Virginia State College.
Cox was born in Evansville, Indiana, in December 1895. He was one of four...
4) Euphemia Lofton Haynes
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First Black Woman to get a PhD inMathematics
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Educator
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Advocate for Black Mathematicians
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Polynomial Genius
Euphemia Lofton Haynes was a trailblazer in the field of mathematics education. In 1943 at the age of 53, Haynes earned her Ph.D. in Mathematics at The Catholic University in Washington, D.C., thus becoming the first African-American woman to earn a Ph. D. in Mathematics. She made significant contributions to the field of...
5) David Blackwell
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Game Theorist
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Creator of Blackwell's Theorem
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First African-American inducted into the National Academy of Sciences
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First African-American tenured faculty member at the University of California Berkeley
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National Medial of Science Awardee
David Blackwell was a pioneer in the field of statistics and the mathematical foundations of game theory, which is the study of how and why people make decisions. He was the first African-American inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, the first African-American tenured faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley, and the seventh African-American to...
