Elayne Arrington (born c. 1940) is an American

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

. She was the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

woman to graduate with a bachelor's degree from the School of Engineering at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

. After earning her Ph.D., she went on to conduct performance analyses of

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

aircraft at the

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene County, Ohio, Greene and Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patte ...

Early life and education

Elayne Arrington grew up in

West Mifflin West Mifflin is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, located southeast of downtown Pittsburgh. The population was 20,313 at the 2010 census. It is named after Thomas Mifflin, 1st Governor of Pennsylvania, signer of the Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and graduated from Homestead High School (now Steel Valley High School) in 1957 where she received the second highest

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

score in mathematics (797 out of 800). Despite finishing first in her class, Elayne was denied the opportunity to deliver the valedictory address. Instead school administrators assigned the speech to the class president who was white and male. Arrington was recommended for a full-ride scholarship to study

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

at the University of Pittsburgh, but the sponsor, the Mesta Machine Company, withdrew her scholarship, saying that the money had to be given to a man because women "do not finish engineering programs." In spite of that prediction, in 1961 Arrington became the first African-American woman to graduate from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Engineering, and as a member of the engineering honorary

Pi Tau Sigma Pi Tau Sigma () is an international honor society in the field of mechanical engineering, with most chapters established in the United States. It honors mechanical engineering students who have exemplified the "principles of scholarship, characte ...

. She discussed the nature of the obstacles she faced to Rouvalis.

“Some of he barriersmay have been racial prejudice, but they didn’t even have to get to racial because being a girl in engineering, being female, was enough.”

Arrington went on to earn a

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

degree in mathematics from the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

in Ohio, and while working on her master's Arrington, a Charles Phelps Taft Fellow, also took math courses at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. She earned her Ph.D. in math at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

in 1974 with a thesis titled ''The P-Frattini Subgroup of a Finite Group,'' supervised by Donald B. Parker. She became the 17th African-American woman in the United States to earn a PhD in mathematics.

Career

Arrington was hired as an

aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

working in the Foreign Technology Division at

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. At the base, she analyzed the performance of

aircraft. In 1974 with her newly earned doctorate, she returned to the University of Pittsburgh where she taught in the department of mathematics and statistics. Arrington cut back her work schedule in 2012, and fully retired from the university in 2018. In 2007, she was named a board member of the

Community College of Allegheny County Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) is a public community college in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. With four campuses and four centers, the college offers associate degrees, certificates, and diplomas. History The Pennsylvania legis ...

. In 2016, Arrington took a class at the

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (PTS) is a Presbyterian graduate seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1794, it houses one of the largest theological libraries in the tri-state area. History Pittsburgh Theological Seminary was formed ...

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

"so she could read the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

in its original language." She pursued theological studies classes at the University of Pittsburgh and is planning to complete her studies in 2021 at the age of 81, for another master’s degree, this one in theological study.

Awards

In April 2007, Arrington received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Pittsburgh's African American Alumni Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arrington, Elayne Living people African-American academics African-American women engineers African-American engineers American women engineers African-American mathematicians 20th-century American mathematicians American women mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Mathematicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century women engineers 20th-century women mathematicians 1940 births 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century American women 21st-century African-American women