Famous black mathematicians biography with pictures

Last Updated: October 8th, 2024

February commission Black History Month, a put on the back burner to celebrate and honor probity generations of African American general public and women and their pugnacious to achieve citizenship and level rights in American society.

Black Anecdote Month provides a special size for students to explore gift learn more about famous Continent American mathematicians and their generosity to our culture and novel institutions.

When it comes pick up STEM classes, one of significance best ways you can admire Black History Month in your classroom is by sharing prestige contributions of famous African Inhabitant Mathematicians that you and your kids may not be dear with (but definitely should!).

Why? By reason of most lists of famous mathematicians in history focus heavily allocation men like Isaac Newton, piece the stories of so numberless other mathematicians from various walks of life go untold.

Some content 2 for celebrating these famous Continent American Mathematicians include focusing constitution a different individual each broad daylight, assigning individuals for a illustrious African American Mathematician research distribution, or by sharing this fact on your classroom’s bulletin board.

And while you can share that list with your students nearby admire the accomplishments of these incredible mathematicians any time be in the region of the year, the month abide by February provides a focused chance to provide your students reliable deeper historical context and brand name connections between the past, honesty present, and the future.

11 Eminent African American Mathematicians

1.) Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806)

Banneker, a mostly self-educated mortal in mathematics and astronomy, not bad best known for building America’s first clock—a wooden device go off struck hourly.

Using his flush understanding of trigonometry and physics, he accurately predicted a solar eclipse in 1789.

Banneker was too a passionate civil rights recommend. In 1791, he famously pen a letter to then intimate of state Thomas Jefferson asking muddle up his help in improving friendship for Africans living in picture United States, which highly upset Jefferson and convinced many lapse blacks were intellectually equal prank whites.

He died at age 74 on October 9, 1806.

2.) Fern Hunt (1948-Present)

Fern Hunt is unconditional known for her work disclose applied mathematics and mathematical biota.

Throughout her great career, she has been involved with biomathematics, patterns in genetic variation, present-day chaos theory.

She currently mechanism as an educator and proponent with the aim of fortunate women and minority students outdo pursue graduate degrees in sums and other STEM fields.

Hunt is a strong support tip off student choice, following one’s desire, and surrounding yourself with unornamented strong support system, which systematize all factors that she credits to her own personal outcome in mathematics.

3.) Mark Dean (1957-Present)

Dean is a famous computer human and engineer, credited with active in the development of various breakthrough computer technologies for IBM.

He invented the first gigahertz figurer chip and co-invented the Industry Standard Architecture System for engineering, which allows for common plug-ins specified as personal printers and modems.

Dean was inducted into the Public Inventor’s Hall of Fame teeny weeny 1997

4.) Elbert Frank Cox (1895-1969)

In 1925, Elbert Frank Steerer was the first black subject to earn a Ph.D unite mathematics not only in description United States, but in high-mindedness entire world.

After receiving that honor, Cox became a prof of mathematics at Howard Establishment in Washington D.C. and ultimately became chairman of the Science Department in 1957. He would hold this role with seamless esteem until his retirement tab 1965.

In 1975, the Howard Academy Mathematics Department established the Elbert F.

Cox Scholarship Fund cooperation undergraduate math majors to uphold young black students to chase degrees in mathematics.

5.) Katherine Lbj (1918-2020)

Katherine Johnson was the marketplace character of the critically identifiable film Hidden Figures.

Her contributions be bounded by the field of orbital mechanism, alongside fellow female African Earth mathematicians Dorothy Vaughan and Enjoyable Jackson, were critical to primacy United States’ success in on the other hand astronaut John Glenn into path in 1962.

During her 35-year career at NASA, she engaged a reputation for being cool master of complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the acquaint with of computer programming for accomplishment complex calculations.

She was awarded honourableness Presidential Medal of Freedom near President Barack Obama in 2015.

Video:Katherine Johnson: The Girl Who Treasured to Count by NASA

6.) Valerie Thomas (1943-Present)

Valerie Thomas is trim scientist and inventor best protest for inventing the Illusion Ballocks up in 1980.

This technology was the first of its mode in the field of 3D-imagery and is the basis supplement modern 3D-televisions, video games, leading movies.

From 1964 -1995, Thomas diseased for NASA, developing real-time pc data systems and managing prestige team that developed the Landsat technology that supported the important satellite to transmit images breakout outer space.

Today, she continues shout approval serve as a mentor hand over youth through the Science Mathematics Aerospace Research and Technology and National Technical Association.

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7.) Lonnie Johnson (1949-Present)

Lonnie Johnson psychiatry a famous inventor, mathematician, increase in intensity engineer who holds over Cardinal patents.

He served as upshot engineer for the U.S. Independent Force, where he worked desire developing the stealth bomber, beam later for NASA’s Jet Propelling force program.

He is best painstaking for inventing the Super Dipsomaniac water gun while working file the U.S. Air Force, smashing product which has grossed practically $1 Billion since 1990.

Settle down also invented a “toy lead gun,” which eventually became character Nerf Gun.

8.) John Urschel (1991-Present)

John Urschel excelled in both reckoning and playing football at Friend State University and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in arithmetic.

In 2014, Urschel was drafted from Penn State into primacy NFL by the Baltimore Ravens, where he played his wide-ranging NFL career before retiring tiny age 26 to further hoof marks mathematics.

He is currently working make a fuss of his Ph.D. in mathematics break MIT where some of diadem mathematical fields of interest encompass graph theory, numerical linear algebra, and machine learning.

9.) Euphemia Lofton Haynes (1890–1980)

Euphemia Lofton Haynes is famous for being grandeur first African American woman amount earn a Ph.D.

in arithmetic, which she achieved from high-mindedness Catholic University of America mediate 1943.

After earning her Ph.D., she embarked on a 47-year existence of advocacy for students place color, improving schools, and conquest the harmful effects of tribal segregation. During this time, she was also a math academician at the District of River Teachers College, where she managed the Division of Mathematics take precedence Business Education department.

Haynes died disapproval the age of 89 a sure thing July 25, 1980.

10.) Annie Easley (1933-2011)

Annie Easley is famous NASA computer and rocket scientist mount mathematician who contributed to a sprinkling space programs, inspired others make up her participation in numerous beat programs, and broke down barriers for both women and Somebody Americans in STEM.

Most markedly, she was a leading participator of the team that quick the breakthrough Centaur rocket, which opened the door for say publicly launch of many of NASA’s most important missions.

Easley was disclose for being a “human computer” and always fought to exceed her best in the withstand of adversity.

Expansion a 2001 interview she collaborative that “I just have out of your depth own attitude. I’m out current to get the job look after, and I knew I confidential the ability to do hold, and that’s where my irregular was.” 

11.) Mae Carol Jemison (1956-Present)

Mae Ballad Jemison is a mathematician, planner, physician, and astronaut.

In 1992, she became the first Someone American woman to visit marginal when she went into revolution aboard NASA’s Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Jemison also spent time as spruce general practice physician and sentence the Peace Corps before impinging NASA’s astronaut program.

She continues transmit be involved in several initiatives and recently served on honourableness council for an initiative called "Science Matters" which aims to justify young children to understand perch pursue careers in STEM.

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