Due Monday, December 1
November is Native American Heritage month! This assignment is similar to the one you completed for Hispanic Heritage Month. This time, you will profile an indigenous mathematician in a comment on this post.
The website indigenousmathematicians.org includes profiles of several indigenous mathematicians, many of them belonging to first nations of what is now known as North/Central/South America. (The website includes profiles of mathematicians belonging to first nations in other parts of the world; while this assignment is to celebrate Native American Heritage Month, if you find an indigenous mathematician from another part of the world and you’d like to profile them, go ahead.)
- Scroll to the map or click on “profiles” or “honorees” to see a list of indigenous mathematicians.
- Choose one mathematician you’d like to profile. Read their profile on the indigeneous mathematicians webpage.
- See what else you can find out about the mathematician you chose. Many mathematicians have personal/academic webpages that include information that might not be in their profile. Try googling their name + “math.”
Your comment should include
- The mathematician’s name and tribal/nation affiliation (if available).
- Where they are now (most of them probably have a job at a university).
- What field of math they do research in or a title of a recent research paper they published.
- Any other interesting biographical details you can find out about them.
- What made this person stand out to you.
- A photograph of them (optional).
Feel free to use other websites as resources for finding out about indigenous mathematicians! Include any relevant links in your comment.
The mathematician I chose was Kamuela E Yong, and he is Native Hawaiian. Now, he is an Associate Professor at the University of Hawaiʻi – West Oʻahu. His fields in research are Mathematical Biology and Mathematical Epidemiology. He was the first Native Hawaiian to earn his Ph.D in Applied Mathematics. He is the co-founder of indigenousmathematicians.org. Something I found interesting about him is that he plans to change the math curriculum so that students can pass and understand it better. They also got a Empowering ʻŌiwi Leadership Award (E OLA). This person stood out to me because they had an inspirational story that had caused them to want to help others.
Sione Ma’u hails from the Kingdom of Tonga. Sione has since been involved with the Tuākana programme, where he teaches undergraduate courses, and complex analysis graduate courses, as well as supervises PhD and Master’s students. He published C-Robin functions and applications in 2020. Something interesting is that Sione applied for a job at University of Auckland and didn’t get the job and that seemed interesting. Why I picked this person because be looks like a fun professor.
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I chose Godfrey Lambert loudner, who is from Ft Thomson ,Buffalo, South Dakota. He was born on September 31,1947 and died on August 02,2012. He received his master degree of science in Mathematics from South Dakota school of mines and in 1974 he received his PHD in mathematics from Norte Dame University.Dr. Loudner then moved to Mission, SD, where he became a well-regarded mathematics instructor at Sinte Gleska University, teaching there from 1974 until 2012. He offered a diverse range of math courses, from fundamental concepts to advanced levels required by his students’ programs. However, these courses did not fully challenge Dr. Loudner’s mathematical abilities, prompting him to engage with complex problems presented in math journals for his own intellectual fulfillment.
1). Dr. Mary G. Ross was a member of the Cherokee Nation, that was a mathematician and engineer (. 1908 – 2008)
2). She sadly passed away in 2008 at the age of 99, but when she was alive she worked at Lockheed corporation
3) Dr. Mary G. Ross expertise focused mainly on aerospace engineering, specifically in solving complex equations relating to orbit mechanics.
4). One interesting detail that I found on her was that she was one of the first female engineers hired by Lockheed and was assigned to the prestigious Skunk Works division.
5) What made her stood out to me was that she was one of the first Native American women to excel in a male dominated field
Rebecca Garcia was my choice because it’s wonderful to see a woman in the field of mathematics. After completing her undergraduate studies in mathematics at Loyola Marymount University, she enrolled in the University of California at Berkeley’s Pre-Ph.D. Program. As she pursues her degree, she wants to achieve a lot in life. In the middle of her preliminary tests at the beginning of her third year, Garcia’s father tragically passed away. The program was run for five summers by Garcia and her colleagues. The programs’ objectives included connecting participants through a long-lasting network of peers and mentors and giving them the same opportunities she enjoyed as a student. Additionally, she is currently Garcia teaches mathematics at Sam Houston State University.