Fern Yvette Hunt (born January 14, 1948) is an African 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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

known for her work in applied mathematics and

mathematical biology Mathematical and theoretical biology, or biomathematics, is a branch of biology which employs theoretical analysis, mathematical models and abstractions of living organisms to investigate the principles that govern the structure, development ...

. She currently works as a researcher at the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into Outline of p ...

, where she conducts research on the

ergodic theory Ergodic theory is a branch of mathematics that studies statistical properties of deterministic dynamical systems; it is the study of ergodicity. In this context, "statistical properties" refers to properties which are expressed through the behav ...

dynamical systems In mathematics, a dynamical system is a system in which a Function (mathematics), function describes the time dependence of a Point (geometry), point in an ambient space, such as in a parametric curve. Examples include the mathematical models ...

Early life and education

Hunt was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on January 14, 1948, to Daphne Lindsay and Thomas Edward Hunt. Her sister, Erica Hunt, is a published poet and author. Hunt's grandparents immigrated to the United States from Jamaica before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Her family lived in a primarily black housing project in Hampton. Her father did not graduate from high school, and though her mother attended

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

for two years, she did not earn a degree. When Hunt was 9 years old, her mother gifted her a chemistry set for Christmas, which sparked her early interest in science. Hunt's middle school science teacher, Charles Wilson, further encouraged Hunt to pursue math and science. Hunt attended the

Bronx High School of Science The Bronx High School of Science is a State school, public Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school in the Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science ...

, and it was during her time in high school that her primary focus shifted from science to mathematics. After graduating high school, Hunt attended

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...

following the encouragement of her mother, earning an A.B. in mathematics in 1969. She went on to earn a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...

and

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in mathematics from the Courant Institute of Mathematics at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1978. Her PhD thesis (1978) ''Genetic and Spatial Variation in some Selection-Migration Models'' was advised by Frank Hoppensteadt.

Career

Hunt began her academic career at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

, and in 1978, she accepted a job as an assistant professor at

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

. She remained a member of the Department of Mathematics at Howard until 1993. While at Howard, she also worked for the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

in the Laboratory of Mathematical Biology (1981-1982) and the

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sc ...

(1986-1991). Additionally, from 1988 to 1991, she was a member of the GRE Mathematics Advisory Board at

Educational Testing Service Educational Testing Service (ETS), founded in 1947, is the world's largest private educational testing and assessment organization. It is headquartered in Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, Lawrence Township, New Jersey, but has a P ...

(ETS). In 1993, she left Howard and began working for the

, where she worked on mathematical problems from physics and chemistry research. While working at NIST she continued her research on the ergodic theory of dynamical systems. Fern also lectures at colleges and universities to encourage students in mathematics. She uses her experiences of the setbacks she experienced as a black woman in mathematics to mentor minority students interested in mathematics. In 1998 she was an instructor at a summer workshop for women entering Ph.D. programs in mathematics run by the

EDGE Foundation The EDGE Foundation (Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education) is an organization based in Claremont, California, United States, that was established in 2013. The foundation sponsors the EDGE Program, which was established in 1998 to help women ...

( Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education).

Awards and achievements

In 2000, Hunt received the Arthur S. Flemming Award for her contributions to probability and

stochastic modeling :''This page is concerned with the stochastic modelling as applied to the insurance industry. For other stochastic modelling applications, please see Monte Carlo method and Stochastic asset models. For mathematical definition, please see Stochast ...

, mathematical biology, computational geometry, nonlinear dynamics, computer graphics, and

parallel computing Parallel computing is a type of computing, computation in which many calculations or Process (computing), processes are carried out simultaneously. Large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which can then be solved at the same time. ...

. She has been a member of the Bryn Mawr College board of trustees since 1992 and the Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee for the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production, the research and development of nuclear power, the military's nuclear w ...

since 1994. Hunt was included in the 2019 class of fellows of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

"for outstanding applications of mathematics to science and technology, exceptional service to the US government, and for outreach and mentoring". 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 ...

has included her in the 2020 class of AWM Fellows for "her exceptional commitment to outreach and mentoring; for her sustained efforts to make the AWM organization more inclusive; for her service to higher education and government; and for inspiring those underrepresented in mathematics with her work in ergodic theory, probability, and computation". Hunt's work earned her recognition by

Mathematically Gifted & Black Mathematically Gifted & Black (MGB) is a website that features the accomplishments of black scholars in mathematical sciences. In addition to highlighting the work and lives of established mathematicians in the African Diaspora, the platform aims ...

as a Black History Month 2017 Honoree.

Published Works

HUNT, F. Y. (2005). A Mathematician at NIST Today. In B. A. CASE & A. M. LEGGETT (Eds.), Complexities: Women in Mathematics (pp. 314–327). Princeton University Press.

References

External links

Fern Y. Hunt , Mathematical Association of America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Fern 1948 births Living people 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians African-American mathematicians African-American women mathematicians African-American women academics 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences alumni Bryn Mawr College alumni University of Utah faculty Howard University faculty Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Fellows of the Association for Women in Mathematics 20th-century American women mathematicians 21st-century American women mathematicians 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics 21st-century African-American women 21st-century American women academics