Georgia Caldwell Smith

Georgia Caldwell Smith (1909–1961) was one of the first African-American women to gain a bachelor's degree in mathematics.[1] When she was 51, she earned one of the early PhDs in mathematics by an African-American woman, awarded posthumously in 1961.[2][3] Smith was the head of the Department of Mathematics at Spelman College.[2][4]

Georgia Caldwell Smith
Born(1909-09-28)September 28, 1909
Atchison, Kansas, US
Died6 May 1961(1961-05-06) (aged 51)
Alma mater
Known for
  • One of the first African-American woman PhDs in mathematics
  • Head of Spelman's Department of Mathematics
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
Institutions

Early life and education

Smith was born in Atchison, Kansas on 28 August 1909,[4] and attended segregated public schools.[2] She gained her A.B. in 1928, and A.M. in 1929, both in mathematics from the University of Kansas.[2][5]

Career

Smith was an assistant professor of mathematics of the faculty of Spelman College from 1929 to 1938,[2][6] and then at Lincoln University (Missouri) until 1943 and Alabama State College.[2][7] She returned to Spelman in 1945 to take on the position of head of the Department of Mathematics.[6][5]

Smith undertook further study at the University of Minnesota and University of Georgia, gaining a National Science Foundation fellowship to work on her doctorate.[6] Smith completed her dissertation in 1960 at the University of Pittsburgh, titled Some results on the anti center of a group.[8] Her supervisor was Norman Levine.[2][3]

Professional memberships included the Mathematical Association of America and the American Mathematical Society,[4] including participation in its 1948 meeting in New York.[9] Smith was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Mu Epsilon.[4][2]

Personal life

Smith was married to Dr. Barnett Frissell Smith, the head of Spelman's department of biology.[10][6] They had a son, Barnett F. Smith Jr.[6] She died on 6 May 1961,[11] before her PhD was conferred posthumously in June.[12]

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gollark: Language is hard, since it often deals with things which are hard to rigorously define in the first place, is subject to bizarre evolutionary pressures, and is often manipulated for argumentative gain.

References
  1. Jordan, [interviews by] Diann (2007). Sisters in science : conversations with black women scientists about race, gender, and their passion for science. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press. ISBN 1-55753-445-4.
  2. Warren, Wini (1999). Black women scientists in the United States. Bloomington, Ind. [u.a.]: Indiana University Press. pp. 254–255. ISBN 0253336031.
  3. Georgia Caldwell Smith at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  4. Sammons, Vivian Ovelton (1990). Blacks in science and medicine. New York: Hemisphere Pub. Corp. p. 215. ISBN 0891166653.
  5. Atlanta University Catalogs. Atlanta, Ga: Atlanta University. 1946. p. 10. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  6. "Mrs. G. Smith, Spelman Prof., Succumbs". The Pittsburgh Courier. 20 May 1961. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  7. Johnson, Toki Schalk (14 February 1959). "The world and Toki Types". The Pittsburgh Courier. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  8. Smith, Georgia Caldwell (1960). Some results on the anticenter of a group. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  9. Kline, JR (1948). "The February meeting in New York". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 54 (5): 461–479. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1948-08997-2. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  10. "(Notices)". The Crisis. 52 (12): 342. December 1945.
  11. Scrivener, Olivia A (10 July 2006). The Politics of Particularism: HBCUs, Spelman College, and the Struggle to Educate Black Women in Science, 1950–1997. Atlanta, GA: Georgia Tech.
  12. University of Pittsburgh (1961). Commencement. Pittsburgh, Pa: University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
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