Kate Adebola Okikiolu (born 1965) is a British

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 ...

. She is known for her work with elliptic differential operators as well as her work with inner-city children.

Early life and education

Okikiolu was born in 1965 in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Her father was George Olatokunbo Okikiolu, a renowned

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

n mathematician and the most published black mathematician on record. Her British mother was a high school mathematics teacher. Okikiolu received a B.A. in mathematics from

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1987. In 1991 she earned her Ph.D. in mathematics from the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

, for her thesis ''The Analogue of the Strong Szego Limit Theorem on the Torus and the 3-Sphere''.

Career

Based on her PhD work, Okikiolu resolved a conjecture of Peter Wilcox Jones concerning a continuous version of the travelling salesman problem. in her paper ''Characterization of subsets of rectifiable curves in'' Okikiolu was an instructor and later assistant professor at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

from 1993 to 1995. She then worked as a visiting assistant professor at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

and joined the faculty at the University of California at San Diego in 1995. In 2011 she joined the Mathematics Department at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

. She was an invited speaker at the 1996 meeting of the

Association of Women in Mathematics The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) is a professional society whose mission is to encourage women and girls to study and to have active careers in the mathematical sciences, and to promote equal opportunity for and the equal treatment o ...

. She also delivered the Claytor-Woodard lecture at the 2002 meeting of the

National Association of Mathematicians The National Association of Mathematicians is a professional association for mathematicians in the US, especially African Americans and other minorities. It was founded in 1969.

, an organization for African-American mathematicians.

Honors and awards

In 1997, Okikiolu won a Sloan Research Fellowship, becoming the first black recipient of this fellowship. In 1997 she also was awarded a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for both her mathematical research and her development of mathematics curricula for inner-city school children. This award is given to only 60 scientists and engineers each year and has a prize of $500,000.

References

External links

Faculty page at Johns Hopkins

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Okikiolu, Kate 1965 births Living people Black British women academics 20th-century British mathematicians 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Alumni of the University of Cambridge English people of Nigerian descent English people of Yoruba descent Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty University of California, San Diego faculty British emigrants to the United States Johns Hopkins University faculty Princeton University faculty Nigerian women academics American women mathematicians African-American mathematicians 20th-century women mathematicians 21st-century women mathematicians University of California, Los Angeles alumni 21st-century African-American women