Carla Cotwright-Williams facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Carla Denise Cotwright-Williams
Alma mater	California State University, Long Beach Southern University University of Mississippi
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematician
Institutions	Department of Defense American University
Thesis	Clones and minors in matroids (2006)
Doctoral advisor	T. James Reid

Carla Denise Cotwright-Williams, born on November 6, is an American mathematician. She works as a Technical Director and Data Scientist for the United States Department of Defense. She was also the second African-American woman to earn a doctorate degree in mathematics from the University of Mississippi.

Early Life and Education

Carla grew up in South Central Los Angeles. Her father was a police officer. When she was a teenager, her family moved to a nicer neighborhood in Los Angeles.

She went to Westchester High School. During summers, she joined special programs for students who don't always get these chances. These programs included classes at the University of California, Los Angeles. She even got to see the Space Shuttle at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center. She finished high school in 1991.

College Journey

Carla started college at California State University, Long Beach. She first studied engineering. Then she switched to math. At first, math was tough for her. Her grades were low, and she was almost kicked out of the university. But she worked very hard to improve. She eventually earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics in 2000.

Next, she earned a master's degree in mathematics in 2002. This was from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She planned to get a Ph.D. in science and math. But an African-American professor, Stella R. Ashford, encouraged her to focus on pure mathematics. Professor Ashford helped Carla with her master's thesis. This paper was about "Unique Factorization in Bi-Quadratic Number Fields."

Doctoral Studies

Carla then went to the University of Mississippi for her doctorate. She became the president of the Graduate Student Council there. She earned a second master's degree in 2004.

She finished her Ph.D. in 2006. Her main project was about matroid theory. Carla was the second African-American woman to earn a doctorate in math from the University of Mississippi. She was part of a group of four African-American students who all graduated that same year.

Career

After getting her doctorate, Carla worked as a math professor. She taught at Wake Forest University, Hampton University, and Norfolk State University. While teaching, she wanted to work for the government. So, she started studying public policy. She also worked on research projects. One project was with NASA about drone control systems. Another was with the US Navy about measurement accuracy.

In 2010, she earned a certificate in Public Policy Analysis. This was from Old Dominion University. She applied for a special fellowship with the American Mathematical Society. She didn't get it the first time, but she succeeded on her second try in 2012.

Working in Government

Carla became a Legislative Branch Fellow from 2012 to 2013. This program helps scientists work in government. She worked for both the Senate and the House of Representatives. As a Congressional Fellow, she worked for the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. She helped respond to the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.

In 2014, she worked on data quality for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. In 2015, she became a Hardy-Apfel IT Fellow at the Social Security Administration. Her work there included using business analytics to prevent fraud. She also helped with data warehousing, which means storing and managing large amounts of information.

In 2018, she moved to the United States Department of Defense. There, she works as a data scientist.

Carla also teaches math and statistics at American University. She is also a member of the executive committee for the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM).

Her career advice is simple: "Get out and talk to people and learn new things!"

Awards and Honors

• Member of the National Association of Mathematicians (Outside of Academia)
• Honored for Black History Month in 2017 by Mathematically Gifted & Black