Blackwell, David, 1919-2010

David Blackwell (b. April 24, 1919, Centralia, IL–d. July 8, 2010, Berkeley, CA) was the first African American inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, the first black tenured faculty member at UC Berkeley, and the seventh African American to receive a Ph.D. in Mathematics. He received degrees in mathematics from the University of Illinois. He did post-doctoral work as a fellow at Institute for Advanced Study in 1941. Seeking a professional position he was interviewed bu statistician Jerzy Neyman at University of California, Berkeley. Neyman supported his appointment but Blackwell was rejected because he was black. He taught at Southern University, Clark University, and Howard University. Eventually he was hired as a full professor in the newly created Statistics Department at UC Berkeley in 1955 and spent the rest of his career there until retiring in 1988.