Evelyn Boyd Granville

Evelyn Boyd Granville (born May 1, 1924) was one of the first African-American women to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics; she earned it in 1949 from Yale University.
Education
Evelyn Boyd was born in Washington, D.C.; her father worked odd jobs but separated from her mother when Boyd was young. Boyd and her older sister were raised by her mother and aunt, who both worked at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. She was valedictorian at Dunbar High School, which at that time was a segregated but academically competitive school for black students in Washington.
With financial support from her aunt and, later, a small partial scholarship from Phi Delta Kappa, Boyd entered Smith College in the fall of 1941. She majored in mathematics and physics, but also took a keen interest in astronomy. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and to Sigma Xi and graduated summa cum laude in 1945. Encouraged by a graduate scholarship from the Smith Student Aid Society of Smith...