Evelyn Boyd Granville was born on May 1, 1924, in Washington, D.C. She attended Dunbar High School and graduated as valedictorian in 1941.

Granville attended Smith College and graduated summa cum laude in 1945. From there she went on to Yale, where she received M.A.s in both Mathematics and Physics in just one year.

In 1950, Granville obtained a position at Fisk University as associate professor. It was there that she came to enjoy the experience of teaching.

From 1956 to 1960, Granville worked at IBM on the Project Vanguard and Project Mercury space programs. After that, she returned to teaching in 1967 at California State University in Los Angeles. She also performed supplementary math work in local elementary schools while at CSU.

Granville married Edward Granville, a real estate broker, in 1970. Then in 1983 she retired and moved to Texas. In 1985 she was coaxed out of retirement to teach at Texas College in Tyler, Texas, until 1988.

Evelyn Granville's primary accomplishment is being the first black woman in the United States to receive a Ph.D. in Mathematics. She received the Ph.D. in 1949, the same year that another black woman, Markorie Lee Brown, was receiving a Ph.D. in Mathematics.

While at IBM working for NASA's Projects Vanguard and Mercury, Granville wrote computer programs to track the paths of vehicles in space.

Granville collaborated with Jason Frand to write a textbook for college courses teaching math to prospective elementary school teachers. Theory and Applications of Mathematics for Teachers was published by Wadsworth in 1975 and was adopted by over 50 colleges across the country. A second edition followed.

Source:

1. "Biography of Evelyn Boyd Granville."
2. "Evelyn Boyd Granville," 4000 Years of Women in Science.
3. "Evelyn Boyd Granville: Mathematician", Index of Women Scientists.
4. Granville, Evelyn Boyd. "My Life as a Mathematician."
5. The photograph of Evelyn Granville is believed to be in the public domain. If you own copyright to this photograph please send an email to www@physics.purdue.edu and either the photograph will be removed or a copyright acknowledgement added.