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Founded | December 2016 |
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Founders | Erica Graham, Raegan Higgins, Candice Renee Price, Shelby Wilson |
Website | mathematicallygiftedandblack |
Mathematically Gifted & Black (MGB) is a website that features the accomplishments of black scholars in mathematical sciences. In addition to highlighting the work and lives of established mathematicians in the African Diaspora, the platform aims to support the next generation of these mathematicians as they pursue career goals in mathematics and mathematical sciences fields. [1] [2] Featured mathematicians must have a degree in mathematics that they use in their work and be recognized as a leader in research, education, industry, government, academia, and/or outreach. [3] The website has been recognized by the American Mathematical Society (AMS) as a "celebrat[ion of] the diversity of Black mathematicians," [3] and the National Math Festival describes it as a resource that "provides access to the diverse and dynamic community of black mathematicians." [4] When featured on the mathematics podcast "Relatively Prime," the founders of MGB shared that the website shows the diversity of black mathematicians' lives and highlights the importance of representation in mathematics. [5] Founders of MGB received the Association for Women in Mathematics’ 2022 AWM Presidential Recognition Award. [6] [7]
Mathematically Gifted & Black was founded in 2017 by Erica Graham (Bryn Mawr College), Raegan Higgins (Texas Tech University), Candice Price (Smith College), and Shelby Wilson (University of Maryland). The professors created the website with the intent of highlighting the contributions and lives of black mathematicians. The name of the website was partially inspired by the song "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" performed by Nina Simone with lyrics by Weldon Irvine. [8] [9] [10]
Mathematically Gifted & Black features a collective archive called the "Circle of Excellence" that documents the website's Black History Month honorees that have been recognized since the site's inception. During the month of February, a prominent black mathematician is recognized each day, their accomplishments are highlighted, and a short Q&A with the recipient is often included. The mathematicians featured by MGB include university professors and a diverse variety of mathematical professionals. [11] [12]
Several notable individuals are included among the extensive archive of honorees. Their names appear below.
2024 Black History Month Honorees
2022 Black History Month Honorees
2021 Black History Month Honorees
2020 Black History Month Honorees
2019 Black History Month Honorees
2018 Black History Month Honorees
2017 Black History Month Honorees
Floyd Leroy Williams is a North American mathematician well known for his work in Lie theory and, most recently, mathematical physics. In addition to Lie theory, his research interests are in homological algebra and the mathematics of quantum mechanics. He received his B.S.(1962) in Mathematics from Lincoln University of Missouri, and later his M.S.(1965) and Ph.D.(1972) from Washington University in St. Louis. Williams was appointed professor of mathematics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1984, and has been professor emeritus since 2005. Williams' accomplishments earned him recognition by Mathematically Gifted & Black as a Black History Month 2019 Honoree.
William Alfred Massey is an American mathematician and operations researcher, the Edwin S. Wilsey Professor of Operations Research and Financial Engineering at Princeton University. He is an expert in queueing theory.
Sylvia D. Trimble Bozeman is an American mathematician and Mathematics educator.
Fern Yvette Hunt is an American mathematician known for her work in applied mathematics and mathematical biology. She currently works as a researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where she conducts research on the ergodic theory of dynamical systems.
Trachette Levon Jackson is an American mathematician who is a professor of mathematics at the University of Michigan and is known for work in mathematical oncology. She uses many different approaches, including continuous and discrete mathematical models, numerical simulations, and experiments to study tumor growth and treatment. Specifically, her lab is interested in "molecular pathways associated with intratumoral angiogenesis," "cell-tissue interactions associated with tumor-induced angiogenesis," and "tumor heterogeneity and cancer stem cells."
Ronald Elbert Mickens is an American physicist and mathematician who is the Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Physics at Clark Atlanta University. His research focuses on nonlinear dynamics and mathematical modeling, including modeling epidemiology. He also has an interest in the history of science and has written on the history of black scientists. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and served as the historian of the National Society of Black Physicists. He has made significant contributions to the theory of nonlinear oscillations and numerical analysis.
Shirley Ann Mathis McBay was an American mathematician who was the founder and president of the Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Network, a nonprofit dedicated to improving minority education. She was the dean for student affairs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1980 to 1990. She was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. McBay was recognized by Mathematically Gifted & Black as a Black History Month 2017 Honoree.
Raymond Lewis Johnson is an American mathematician, currently a professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, College Park and an adjunct professor of mathematics at Rice University. He was the first African-American student at Rice University, and the first African-American mathematics professor at the University of Maryland. His research concerns non-well-posed problems and harmonic analysis.
Talithia D. Williams is an American statistician and mathematician at Harvey Mudd College who researches the spatiotemporal structure of data. She was the first black woman to achieve tenure at Harvey Mudd College. Williams is an advocate for engaging more African Americans in engineering and science.
Tasha Rose Inniss is an American mathematician and the director of education and industry outreach for the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS).
Candice Renee Price is an African-American mathematician and co-founder of the website Mathematically Gifted & Black, which features the contributions of modern-day black mathematicians. She is an advocate for women and people of color in STEM.
Rudy Lee Horne was an American mathematician and professor of mathematics at Morehouse College. He worked on dynamical systems, including nonlinear waves. He was the mathematics consultant for the film Hidden Figures.
Ulrica Wilson is a mathematician specializing in the theory of noncommutative rings and in the combinatorics of matrices. She is an associate professor at Morehouse College, associate director of diversity and outreach at the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM), and a former vice president of the National Association of Mathematicians.
Linda Bailey Hayden is an American mathematician. She specializes in mathematics education and applications of mathematics in geoscience, and is known for her mentorship of minorities and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. She is a professor and associate dean of mathematics and computer science at Elizabeth City State University.
Carla Denise Cotwright-Williams is an American mathematician who works as a Technical Director and Data Scientist for the United States Department of Defense. She was the second African-American woman to earn a doctorate in mathematics at the University of Mississippi.
Kasso Akochayé Okoudjou is a Professor of Mathematics at Tufts University. He works primarily on harmonic analysis and is currently also doing research in time-frequency analysis and fractals. He was the 2018 Martin Luther King Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Tanya Moore is an activist for women in science.
Raegan J. Higgins is an American mathematician and co-director of the EDGE program for Women. She is also one of the co-founders of the website Mathematically Gifted & Black, which highlights the accomplishments of Black mathematicians.
Leona Ann Harris is an American mathematician who is the Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) at the American Mathematical Society (AMS). She was the executive director of the National Association of Mathematicians (NAM) from 2019 to 2022.
Janis Marie Oldham was an American mathematician specializing in differential geometry and mathematics education and known for her efforts in mentoring mathematics students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.