Annie Marie Garraway facts for kids

Annie Marie Garraway (born in 1940 as Annie Marie Watkins) is an American mathematician. She worked on how we send messages and data over long distances, like with phones and the internet. She is also a philanthropist, which means she gives money to help good causes.

About Annie Marie Garraway

Annie Marie Watkins was born in Parsons, Kansas. She was the oldest daughter of Levi Watkins and Lillian Bernice Varnado. Her parents met when they were both high school teachers.

Her Early Education

Annie Marie went to Booker T. Washington High School. After that, she enrolled in S. A. Owen Junior College. Her father had started this college and was its first president.

In 1957, when she was a freshman, Annie Marie wanted to study engineering. But her math teacher, Juanita R. Turner, saw something special in her. Mrs. Turner suggested Annie Marie focus on math.

Annie Marie later remembered how Mrs. Turner helped her. Mrs. Turner taught math all day at another school. Then, she would teach college math at the junior college. Even after a long day, she would ask Annie Marie to stay after class. They would do extra math problems together. Annie Marie said that because of Mrs. Turner, she never had trouble with math.

College and Career

In 1959, Annie Marie's family moved to Montgomery, Alabama. Her father became a leader and then the president of Alabama State College. Today, this school is called Alabama State University (ASU). It is a historically black college, which means it was created to educate Black students during a time when they faced discrimination.

Annie Marie continued her studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. There, she earned two degrees in mathematics. In 1967, she earned her Ph.D. (a very high degree) in math from the University of California at Berkeley.

She had a very successful career at AT&T Labs. This company helped create many ways we communicate today. She also worked at Lucent Technologies, a company that came from AT&T.

Her brother once said that Annie Marie's math ideas helped create modern telecommunications. This includes how we send electronic data all over the world.

Annie Marie married Michael Oliver Garraway in 1965. Later, in 2004, she married Ira W. Deep, Jr. He was a professor at Ohio State University. Annie Marie has three children. All of them have earned advanced degrees, including doctorates and medical degrees.

Helping Others (Philanthropy)

Annie Marie Garraway has given many generous gifts to universities. She wants to help students and honor important people.

Supporting Vanderbilt University

In 2017, Annie Marie gave a gift to Vanderbilt University. She did this to honor her brother, Levi Watkins Jr., who passed away in 2015. Her brother was a very important person at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Levi Watkins Jr. was the first African-American student to graduate from Vanderbilt's medical school in 1970. When he started in 1966, he was the first Black student there. Even when he graduated, he was still the only one. Annie Marie's gift celebrates his leadership and the big impact he had on students and teachers.

Helping Johns Hopkins University

In 2019, Annie Marie created a scholarship at Johns Hopkins University. This was also in memory of her brother, Levi Watkins Jr. He was the first African American to become the chief doctor for heart surgery at Johns Hopkins.

In 1979, he started a program to find and recruit medical students of color. In 1980, he made history by putting the first automatic heart defibrillator into a patient at Johns Hopkins.

Supporting LeMoyne-Owen College

In 2020, Annie Marie gave a gift to LeMoyne-Owen College. She was inspired by the movie and book called Hidden Figures. This true story is about three African-American women mathematicians. They worked at NASA and helped the U.S. space program in the 1960s.

Annie Marie said that watching the movie made her think of her old math teacher, Mrs. Turner. "Seeing the movie and reading the book made me think that she (Mrs. Turner) saw hidden figures in me," Garraway said.

Because of this inspiration, Annie Marie decided to create a scholarship fund. It is at LeMoyne–Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee. This college now includes the school she attended, S.A. Owen Junior College.

The scholarship is called the Juanita R. Turner Memorial Scholarship. It honors the math professor who helped Annie Marie so much in 1957. Not much is known about Mrs. Turner. But we do know she was a spelling contest winner as a child. She also earned a master's degree in mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana.