Etta Zuber Falconer (November 21, 1933 – September 19, 2002) was an American educator and mathematician the bulk of whose career was spent at

Spelman College Spelman College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia ...

, where she eventually served as department head and associate

provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

. She was one of the earlier

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

women to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics.Black Women In Mathematics: Etta Zuber Falconer
/ref>

Family

Etta Zuber was born in

Tupelo, Mississippi Tupelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1860, the population was 37,923 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, 7th-most populous ...

, to Walter A. Zuber, a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, and Zadie L. Montgomery Zuber, a

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

.Biography at The Mathematical Association of America
/ref> The Zubers had two daughters, with Etta being the younger and Alice the older. While teaching at Okolona Junior College in

Okolona, Mississippi Okolona is a city in and one of the two county seats of Chickasaw County, Mississippi, Chickasaw County, Mississippi, United States. It is located near the eastern border of the county. The population was 2,692 at the 2010 United States Census, ...

, Etta met and married Dolan Falconer, a basketball coach. They had three children – Dolan Falconer Jr., who became a

nuclear engineer Nuclear engineering is the engineering discipline concerned with designing and applying systems that utilize the energy released by nuclear processes. The most prominent application of nuclear engineering is the generation of electricity. Worldwide ...

; Alice Falconer Wilson, a

pediatrician Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

; and Walter Zuber Falconer, a

urologist Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''-logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary system and the reproductive organs. Org ...

. The couple's marriage lasted over 35 years, ending in 1994 with Dolan's death.

Education

Etta Falconer attended the Tupelo public school system, graduating from Carver High School in 1949. At the age of 15 she entered

Fisk University Fisk University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus i ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, where she majored in mathematics and minored in chemistry, graduating ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' in 1953.Etta Zuber Falconer (1933-2002) (PDF, 29 pages)
/ref> While at Fisk, Falconer was inducted into the

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

academic honor society. Her teachers included the talented mathematician Evelyn Granville, one of the first African American women to receive a doctoral degree in mathematics. She went on to study at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, where she earned a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree in mathematics in 1954. Lonely in Wisconsin, she decided not to pursue her doctorate there and returned to Mississippi to teach. In 1965, by which time she had married, changed her name to Etta Falconer, and started teaching at Spelman College in Atlanta, she entered graduate school at

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

where she earned a Ph.D. in mathematics (1969), with a dissertation on

quasigroup In mathematics, especially in abstract algebra, a quasigroup is an algebraic structure that resembles a group in the sense that " division" is always possible. Quasigroups differ from groups mainly in that the associative and identity element pro ...

theory, supervised by Trevor Evans She later published two research papers based on her dissertation work, one of which was published in 1971 by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. To assist in setting up a

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

department while mathematics department head at

, she returned to graduate school at

Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded on September19, 1865, as Atlanta University, it was the first HBCU in the Southe ...

, earning a Master of Science degree in computer science in 1982.

Teaching career

Falconer began her teaching career in 1954 at Okolona College, where she met and married Dolan Falconer. She remained at Okolona until 1963, when she accepted a position at Howard High School in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

, where she taught the academic year 1963–64. When her husband was offered a coaching position at

Morris Brown College Morris Brown College (MBC) is a Private university, private African Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlan ...

in 1965, the family moved to Atlanta, also the site of

, an

historically black Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

women's college. Falconer's mother had studied at Spelman, and Falconer approached the head of the mathematics department, telling him that she wanted to teach there. She was appointed an instructor in 1965. In 1969 Falconer became the eleventh African American woman to receive a PhD in mathematics. She specialized in

Abstract algebra In mathematics, more specifically algebra, abstract algebra or modern algebra is the study of algebraic structures, which are set (mathematics), sets with specific operation (mathematics), operations acting on their elements. Algebraic structur ...

. Falconer advanced to

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

, leaving Spelman in 1971 to join the mathematics department at

Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnersh ...

, where she taught for the academic year 1971–1972. Falconer returned to Spelman as professor of mathematics and head of the mathematics department. She held those positions until 1985.Biography at University of St Andrews School of Mathematics and Statistics
/ref> Falconer devoted 37 years of her life to teaching mathematics and improving science education at Spelman College. In 1995, she stated: "My entire career has been devoted to increasing the number of African American women in mathematics and mathematics-related careers." Along with her teaching career, Falconer strived to inspire more African American women to pursue careers in math or science by working with prominent organizations. This included the American Mathematical Society, the Mathematical Association of America, the Associate for Women in Mathematics, and the National Institute of Science.

Awards and recognition

Falconer was awarded the UNCF Distinguished Faculty Award (1986–1987), the Spelman Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching (1988), the Spelman Presidential Faculty Award for Distinguished Service (1994).In 1995, Falconer was honored by the

Association for 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 ...

, who awarded her the

Louise Hay Award The Louise Hay Award is a mathematics award planned in 1990 and first issued in 1991 by the Association for Women in Mathematics in recognition of contributions as a math educator. The award was created in honor of Louise Hay. Recipients The fo ...

for outstanding achievements in mathematics education. QEM's Giants in Science Award (1995), and an honorary doctorate of science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1996). She was named a Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

in 1999. In 2001, she received the American Association for the Advancement of Science Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Death

Falconer died of pancreatic cancer on September 19, 2002, in Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of sixty-eight. The AWM/MAA Falconer Lecture was renamed in her honor.

References

External links

"Etta Falconer", Biographies of Women Mathematicians

Agnes Scott College Agnes Scott College is a Private university, private Women's Colleges in the Southern United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Decatur, Georgia. The college enrolls approximately 1,000 undergra ...

Abstract of doctoral dissertation "Isotopy Invariants in Quasigroups"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falconer, Etta Zuber 1933 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians American mathematics educators Fisk University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Emory University alumni Spelman College faculty 20th-century American women scientists People from Tupelo, Mississippi Carver High School (Tupelo, Mississippi) alumni 20th-century American women mathematicians Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science