Joséphine Guidy Wandja facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Joséphine Guidy Wandja
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| Born |
Joséphine Wandja
1945 (age 79–80) |
| Other names | Joséphine Guidy-Wandja |
| Citizenship | Ivory Coast |
| Education | Lycée Jules-Ferry |
| Alma mater | Pierre and Marie Curie University University of Abidjan |
| Occupation | Mathematics lecturer |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Paris Diderot University (1970-71) University of Abidjan (1971-?) |
Joséphine Guidy Wandja, born in 1945, is a famous mathematician from the Ivory Coast. She made history by becoming the first African woman to earn a PhD in mathematics. A PhD is the highest university degree you can get, showing you are an expert in your field.
Early Life and Education
When Joséphine was 14 years old, she moved to France. There, she attended the Lycée Jules-Ferry in Paris. Later, she studied at the Pierre and Marie Curie University. She earned her master's degree, which is a university degree you get after your first degree. Her master's project was about shapes and curves in mathematics.
While she was studying in Paris in the late 1960s, she received advice from important mathematicians like René Thom, Henri Cartan, and Paulette Liberman. She then went on to study for her PhD at the University of Abidjan in the Ivory Coast. This is where she achieved her amazing goal of becoming the first African woman to get a PhD in mathematics.
A Career in Mathematics
In 1969, Joséphine Guidy Wandja started her career teaching at a school called Lycée Jacques Amyot in Melun, France. After that, she worked for a year at the Paris Diderot University.
In 1971, she returned to the Ivory Coast and joined the University of Abidjan. There, she became a mathematics lecturer, teaching university students. This made her the first African woman to become a university mathematics professor.
In 1983, she was chosen to be the president of the International Committee on Mathematics in Developing Countries (ICOMIDC). This group helps support mathematics education in countries that are still developing. She also wrote a fun 24-page math comic book in 1986 called Yao crack en maths. In 1985, she helped organize a big ICOMIDC meeting in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast.
Joséphine Guidy Wandja has received important awards for her work. She is an officer of the Ivorian Order of Merit of National Education and the French Ordre des Palmes Académiques. These awards recognize her great contributions to education.
See also
In Spanish: Joséphine Guidy Wandja para niños
