David Blackwell

Dr. David Blackwell is a theoretical statistician noted for his teaching and work in game and probability theory. He is first and only African-American member of the National Academy of Sciences. Blackwell’s research in mathematics and statistics have found application in many fields including economics and accounting.

Blackwell grew up in Centralia, Ill. His father worked for the Illinois Central Railroad and his mother stayed at home to take care of him and his three siblings. At school, he was intrigued by geometry and calculus, especially theorems and methods for solving equations. His high school math club advisor would challenge members with problems from School Science and Mathematics journal and submit their solutions. Blackwell was identified three times in the magazine as having solved problems and one of his solutions was published.

At 16, Blackwell enrolled at the University of Illinois and majored in mathematics. He supported himself in college by washing dishes, waiting tables and cleaning equipment in the entomology lab. After three years, he graduated and continued at the university to obtain his master’s and doctorate degrees.

Blackwell was given a one-year appointment as a Rosenwald Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University in 1941. It was common for Institute members to
He didn’t apply to white institutions because he assumed they would not accept him because of his race. His first teaching job was at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. The following school year, Blackwell accepted a position at Clark College in Atlanta. In 1944, he joined the mathematics department at Howard University. He was promoted to full professor in 1947 and served as the head of the department until 1954. He married a former student from Atlanta, Ann Madison, in 1944 with whom he had eight