Famous Black Mathematicians

Mathematics has continued to interest many, since centuries. Several mathematicians and theorists who, through their theorems and corollaries have found solutions to many complex mathematical problems and have shaped the modern-day mathematics. Here is a look at some of the very famous Black mathematicians.

Benjamin Banneker: Born on November 9, 1731, Benjamin Banneker was a Black mathematician, astronomer, clockmaker and publisher. During his childhood years, he was trained in reading and doing basic arithmetic, by his grandmother and a Quaker schoolmaster. When he was capable of helping his parents in working at their farm, he stopped taking formal education. When Banneker was 21 years of age, he saw Andrew Ellicott's pocket watch. Seeing his keen interest in the watch, Ellicott presented it to Banneker. Banneker started examining the watch and it’s working. He designed huge replicas of the watch by calculating the gear assemblies and made a huge striking clock. This invention of Benjamin Banneker served as an accurate timepiece and he earned recognition as a clockmaker. Banneker contributed to the field of astronomy, by devising calculations to predict solar and lunar eclipses.

He is famous for his puzzles in mathematics and trigonometry. His puzzle, 'Trigonometry' demonstrates his expertise in logarithms. People still wonder which logarithmic table he might have used. He was instrumental in devising a method of finding the lengths of the sides of an equilateral triangle inscribed in a circle, whose diameter is known. His pioneering discoveries that were to bring a positive change to mathematics make evident the genius in him. He died in 1806 but is remembered as one of the famous Black mathematicians.

Kelly Miller: Born on July 23, 1863, Kelly Miller was a mathematician and also a sociologist, newspaper columnist, author and essayist. He graduated from the Howard University in 1886 and was the first black person to be admitted to Johns Hopkins University. He was a law graduate from the Howard School of Law. In 1890, he was hired as a professor at the Howard University. During his service there, he introduced sociology in the curriculum and gave a new dimension to the classical curriculum during his tenure as a dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. His articles and essays were published in various magazines, newspapers and included in various famous books. He endorsed the concept of a symmetrical development through education, which offered both vocational and intellectual instruction.

Elbert Frank Cox: Born on December 5, 1895, Elbert Frank Cox grew up to become the first black person in the world to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics. Since childhood, he exhibited a flair for mathematics and physics. He was also talented in playing violin. He took up a major in mathematics at the Indiana University. He continued his studies, first in the Cornell University and then in the McGill University in Montreal. Being a Black, he had to face difficulties in his pursuit of mathematics, but he rose above them to earn a doctorate in that subject. Cox expanded the work on Euler polynomials and introduced generalized Euler polynomials as also the generalized Boole summation formula and studied several specialized polynomials. From 1925, Cox served the West Virginia State College as a teacher of mathematics and physics. In 1930, he started teaching math at the Howard University. He was an enthusiastic professor and extremely popular among his students. His death in 1969 meant the loss of an excellent teacher and a renowned Black mathematician.

David Blackwell: Born on April 14, 1919, David Blackwell was a Professor Emeritus of Statistics at the University of California. The famous Rao-Blackwell Theorem that deals with transformation of estimators in statistics has been named after this Black mathematician. He was the first African American to make it to the National Academy of Sciences. Since at early age of 16, his love for mathematics kept growing. Accepting the fact that a Black would be allowed to teach only in black colleges, he started applying to various black colleges. He served in the Southern University and then at the Clarke College in Atlanta. In 1946, he became an associate professor in the Howard University. In 1955, he became a professor of statistics at UC, Berkeley. He is among some of the most noted Black mathematicians, times have seen.

J. Earnest Wilkins, Jr.: Born on November 27, 1923, Wilkins was a famous Black mathematicians who entered the University of Chicago aged 13 and completed a B.S in mathematics in four years. Only two years later, he earned a PhD in mathematics from the University of Chicago. He published several papers on a wide range of subjects that included linear differential equations, integrals, differential geometry as also optics and nuclear engineering. Presently, Wilkins serves at the Clark Atlanta University as a Distinguished Professor of applied mathematics and mathematical physics. He finds a place in the list of famous African American mathematicians.

This was an overview of some of the famous Black mathematicians. They have revolutionized the present-day mathematics through their work.