Black Excellence: Fern Hunt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern_Hunt
Fern Yvette Hunt (born January 14, 1948) is an African American[1] mathematician known for her work in applied mathematics and mathematical biology.[2] She currently works as a researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where she conducts research on the ergodic theory of dynamical systems.[3]
Hunt was born in New York City on January 14, 1948, to Daphne Lindsay and Thomas Edward Hunt. Her sister, Erica Hunt, is a published poet and author. Hunt’s grandparents immigrated to the United States from Jamaica before World War I.[4][2] Her family lived in a primarily black housing project in Hampton. Her father did not graduate from high school, and though her mother attended Hunter College for two years, she did not earn a degree. When Hunt was 9 years old, her mother gifted her a chemistry set for Christmas, which sparked her early interest in science. Hunt’s middle school science teacher, Charles Wilson, further encouraged Hunt to pursue math and science.[2][5] Hunt attended the Bronx High School of Science, and it was during her time in high school that her primary focus shifted from science to mathematics.[6] After graduating high school, Hunt attended Bryn Mawr College following the encouragement of her mother, earning an A.B. in mathematics in 1969.[4] She went on to earn a master’s degree and PhD in mathematics from the Courant Institute of Mathematics at New York University in 1978.[7] Her PhD thesis (1978) Genetic and Spatial Variation in some Selection-Migration Models was advised by Frank Hoppensteadt.[4]