ETTA Z. FALCONER

Falconer (1933-2002) was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and taught at Spelman College until 1971. During this time, Falconer earned her Ph.D. at Emory University (1969). She returned to Spelman in 1972 as Associate Professor of Mathematics and Chairperson of the Mathematics Department. She chaired the department until 1985, and also chaired the Natural Sciences Division at that college from 1975 until 1990. Her efforts included the NASA Women in Science Program started in 1987, NASA Undergraduate Science Research Program, and the College Honors Program at Spelman College. She also was a founder of the National Association of Mathematicians, an organization that promotes concerns of black students and mathematicians. Falconer was the Calloway Professor of Mathematics at Spelman College and served as Associate Provost for Science Programs and Policy.

EVELYN BOYD GRANVILLE

Granville (1924- ) was born in Washington, D.C. and attended a high school that was segregated at the time. Her interest in mathematics was encouraged there, and she continued her education to graduate summa cum laude in 1945 from Smith College and elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Granville received a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Yale in 1949, the same year as another woman mathematician, Marjorie Lee Browne received a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Michigan. Granville and Browne represented the first two Black women to receive doctorates in Mathematics in the United States. She was appointed Associate Professor of Mathematics at Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee from 1950-1952.

GLORIA CONYETS HEWITT

Hewitt (1935- ) was born in Sumter, South Carolina, and became only the fourth African-American women ever to receive a doctorate degree in mathematics. In 1961, a year before the completion of her degree at the University of Washington, Hewitt joined the faculty at the University of Montana. Eleven years later she received full professorship and eventually the Chair of the Department of Mathematical Sciences. She has worked with the committee that writes questions for the mathematics section of the Graduate Record Exam, and served as chair for this committee from 1984 to 1986. More recently she served on the Board of Governors of the Mathematical Association of America.

MARTHA EUPHEMIA LOFTON

Lofton (1890-1980) was born in Washington, D.C., the first child and only daughter of Dr. William Lofton and Mrs. Lavinia Day Lofton. She earned a degree in mathematics and psychology from Smith College in 1914. In 1917 Lofton married Harold A. Haynes. She pursued graduate studies in mathematics and education at the University of Chicago, earning a Masters degree in Education in 1930. She continued her graduate work at the Catholic University of America where in 1943 she became the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics. Dr. Haynes taught in the public schools of Washington, D.C. for forty-seven years and was also a professor of mathematics at Miner Teachers College, where she established the mathematics department. She served as chair of the Division of Mathematics and Business Education at the District of Columbia Teachers College. From 1966 to 1967 Haynes served as the first woman to chair the District of Columbia School Board and played a central role in the integration of the D.C. public schools.