Joella Gipson facts for kids

Joella Hardeman Gipson-Simpson (January 8, 1929 – January 31, 2012) was an amazing American musician, mathematician, and teacher. She made history as the first African American student at Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles.

Early Life and Music Journey

Joella Hardeman was born in Los Angeles on January 8, 1929. She started learning music when she was just eight years old. After finishing high school at Saint Agnes High, she went to Mount St. Mary's College. This was a big step because she was the first African American student to be accepted there.

She studied music performance and also learned about English and philosophy. Joella graduated in 1950. She then won a scholarship to the State University of Iowa. There, she earned a master's degree in music education in 1951.

After college, Joella began teaching music. She taught at several schools, including Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. At Southern University, she met Theodore Horace Gipson. They got married and had a daughter together.

A Shift to Mathematics

Joella Gipson and her husband moved back to Los Angeles. Joella became a teacher and supervisor for the Los Angeles Unified School District. During this time, her interests changed to mathematics. She became a certified math teacher.

From 1958 to 1969, she regularly attended special math programs. Her husband, Theodore Gipson, passed away in Los Angeles in 1972.

In 1971, Joella earned a special degree called a doctorate in mathematics education. She got this from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research was about teaching probability to young students.

After getting her doctorate, she became a professor at Wayne State University in 1972. She was promoted to a full professor in 1978. She also worked as a Fulbright Scholar in Belize in 1994 and in Romania in 1998. At Wayne State, she helped lead many programs. These included programs for teaching, and for women, minorities, and people with disabilities in education.

Joella married her second husband, William Lawrence Simpson, in 1980. She lived in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, which is close to Wayne State University. Her husband passed away in 2005. She retired from Wayne State in 2007 after teaching for 35 years. Joella Gipson-Simpson passed away in Windsor on January 31, 2012.

Published Works

Joella Gipson wrote and edited several important books. She co-wrote Consumer and Career Mathematics in 1978. She also co-wrote Black Mathematicians and their Works in 1980. This book shared the stories of many Black mathematicians.

She also edited a book called Impetus, the Black Woman: Proceedings of the Fourth National Congress of Black Women of Canada in 1978. Later, she published her own book, Changing Faces of Romania, in 2000.

Awards and Honors

Joella Gipson received many awards for her hard work and dedication.

• In 1990, Mount St. Mary's College named her their outstanding alumna of the year. This means she was recognized as a top former student.
• In 1993, she won the Wayne State University Alumni Faculty Service Award. She received this for her great work helping women, minorities, and people with disabilities in education.
• In 2010, the Wayne State University Center for Peace and Conflict Studies gave her a lifetime achievement award.

Today, there is a scholarship at Wayne State University named after her. It's called the Joella Gipson Endowed Scholarship for Peace and Human Rights Education. This scholarship helps students who want to work for peace and human rights.