Dr. Elbert Frank Cox (December 5,1985 – November 28,1969) was an African-American mathematician and physicist, specializing in Euclidean mathematics, and the first Black person to acquire a PhD in mathematics in both the US and the world. Born and raised in Evansville, Indiana, he was raised in a segregated town. A prodigy in mathematics growing up, he obtained his BA (1917) in Mathematics and Physics from Indiana University (IU) Bloomington, and his PhD (1925) in Mathematics from Cornell on a fellowship. In addition to being the first Black person with a math PhD, he was the first Black student admitted to the Euclidean Circle at IU, the second Black male to obtain a PhD from Cornell, and the first Black person admitted into the American Mathematical Society. The remarkable thing about his BS degree is that no Black students were allowed to sit in lecture halls, so they had to sit in the hallways with the doors open to hear the lectures. In between degrees, he served in World War I from 1918-1919.
Dr. Cox was a Professor of the sciences, and eventually head of Natural Sciences, at Shaw University from 1919-1922. His next stop was to teach mathematics and physics at West Virginia State College, now West Virginia State University, from 1925-1929. He then moved to Howard University where he stayed from 1925-1965, and served as chairman of the mathematics department from 1957 until his 1965 retirement. He mentored 30 master’s students in his time. While Howard did not have a mathematics PhD program during his tenure, due to his success and growing the program, they did begin one in 1975. After inspiring many others to follow in his footsteps through his dedication to teaching and mentoring, he passed away in 1969.
References:
- https://blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/iubarchives/2017/02/09/efcox/
- https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/question/2006/june.htm
- https://alumni.cornell.edu/cornellians/cox-math-phd/
- https://www.biography.com/scientists/elbert-frank-cox
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbert_Frank_Cox
Image Source:
Elbert Cox, Indiana University 1917 Yearbook
