Rebecca Walo Omana (born 15 July 1951) is a Congolese

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 ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

, and reverend sister. Omana became the first female mathematics professor in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

in 1982. She is the director of the mathematics and informatics doctoral program at the

University of Kinshasa The University of Kinshasa (french: Université de Kinshasa), commonly known as UNIKIN, is one of the three major universities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, together with the University of Kisangani and University of Lubumbashi. Origin ...

and is a vice-president of the

African Women in Mathematics Association The African Women in Mathematics Association (AWMA) is a professional society whose mission is to promote mathematics to African women and girls, to support women's careers in mathematics, to create equal opportunity and equal treatment in the Af ...

. Her mathematical interests lie in differential equations,

nonlinear analysis Nonlinear functional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis that deals with nonlinear mappings. Topics Its subject matter includes: * generalizations of calculus to Banach spaces * implicit function theorems * fixed-point theorems (Br ...

, and modeling.

Biography

Omana was born in the

, on 15 July 1951. She was passionate about mathematics during high school. She made her religious profession to the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Soeurs de St Francois d'Assise at the age of 18, and made her sacred vows in 1978. Omana earned a bachelor’s of science in mathematics from the

Université du Québec à Montréal The Université du Québec à Montréal (English: University of Quebec in Montreal), also known as UQAM, is a French-language public university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the Université du Qué ...

in 1979. She earned her master’s of science in 1982 from the

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montm ...

. In both institutions, she was the only African woman in the department. Of this period Omana says:

I had to double effort to be better and remove negative prejudices in the heads of my colleagues and my professors to be accepted. But in view of results, I was not only accepted but invited by groups of colleagues for research works.

In 1982, Omana began working as a lecturer and became the first female mathematics professor in the

. Omana earned her

Diplôme d'études approfondies A Master of Advanced Studies or Master of Advanced Study (MAS, M.A.S., or MASt) is a postgraduate degree awarded in various countries. Master of Advanced Studies programs may be non-consecutive programs tailored for "specific groups of working pro ...

in 1985 and her Ph.D in 1990 from the Université catholique de Louvain where she worked with advisor Jean Mawhin. She was the first Congolese woman to earn a doctorate there. At the founding of the quarterly multidisciplinary journal ''la revue Notre Dame de la Sagesse'' (RENODAS), Omana was listed as the director. She has supervised numerous doctoral students. She hopes that some of her doctoral students will join her among the small number of female professors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Omana heads the mathematics doctoral program at the University of Kinshasa. Since 2010, she has served as the rector for the Université Notre-Dame de Tshumbe (UNITSHU), a Catholic public university which was founded in 2010 in Tshumbe, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mathematical works

Omana has published two books. Her work on ordinary differential equations has had applications in fields such as epidemiology and law.

Personal life

Omana's parents are not academics, but some siblings hold master's degrees. Her teachers and father influenced her decision to become a mathematician. She has said "mathematics is fantastic; as its name is female, it is a domain that should belong to us women".

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walo Omana, Rebecca Democratic Republic of the Congo women writers African women mathematicians Women heads of universities and colleges Democratic Republic of the Congo scientists Université catholique de Louvain alumni Université du Québec à Montréal alumni Université Laval alumni 1951 births Living people

Biography

Mathematical works

Personal life

See also

Notes

References