David Blackwell

David Harold Blackwell (born April 24, 1919) born in Centralia, Illinois is Professor Emeritus of Statistics at the University of California, Berkeley, and is one of the eponyms of the Rao–Blackwell theorem. He was the first African American inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, and the first black tenured faculty member at UC Berkeley. In 1935, aged 16, Blackwell entered the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where his interes... more

David Harold Blackwell (born April 24, 1919) born in Centralia, Illinois is Professor Emeritus of Statistics at the University of California, Berkeley, and is one of the eponyms of the Rao–Blackwell theorem. He was the first African American inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, and the first black tenured faculty member at UC Berkeley. In 1935, aged 16, Blackwell entered the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where his interest in mathematics continued to grow. While at the Institute, Blackwell started to look for academic appointments. At age 22 he earned his first Ph.D. in mathematics. He wrote letters of application to 105 Historically Black Colleges and Universities to see if any post was available; he felt at the time that a black teacher would be limited to teaching only at black colleges. Later after 1966, more than a dozen universities including Harvard and Yale conferred honorary Ph.D.s to Blackwell. He sought a position at the University of California at... less