Rebecca Walo Omana facts for kids

Rebecca Walo Omana, born on July 15, 1951, is a brilliant mathematician, a professor, and also a Catholic nun from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She made history in 1982 by becoming the very first woman to be a mathematics professor in her home country. Today, she leads the mathematics and computer science doctoral program at the University of Kinshasa. She also helps lead the African Women in Mathematics Association as a vice-president. Her main interests in math include how things change over time (differential equations), complex patterns (nonlinear analysis), and creating math models to understand real-world problems.

Rebecca Walo Omana's Journey

Rebecca Walo Omana was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on July 15, 1951. She loved mathematics very much during her high school years. At the age of 18, she joined the Catholic Soeurs de St Francois d'Assise. She made her sacred vows as a nun in 1978.

Omana earned her first university degree, a bachelor’s of science in mathematics, in 1979. She studied at the Université du Québec à Montréal in Canada. She then earned her master’s of science degree in 1982 from the Université Laval, also in Canada. At both universities, she was the only African woman in her math department. About this time, Omana shared:

I had to work extra hard to be better. I wanted to change any negative ideas my classmates and professors might have had. But because of my good results, I was not only accepted but also invited by other students to work on research projects.

In 1982, Omana started working as a lecturer. Soon after, she became the first female mathematics professor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

She continued her studies and earned her Diplôme d'études approfondies in 1985. She then completed her Ph.D. in 1990 from the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium. Her advisor there was Jean Mawhin. She was the first Congolese woman to earn a doctorate from that university.

Omana became the director of a new journal called la revue Notre Dame de la Sagesse (RENODAS). She has guided many students who were working on their doctoral degrees. She hopes that some of her students will also become female professors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Omana is currently in charge of the mathematics doctoral program at the University of Kinshasa. Since 2010, she has also been the head (rector) of the Université Notre-Dame de Tshumbe (UNITSHU). This is a Catholic public university founded in 2010 in Tshumbe, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Her Amazing Math Work

Rebecca Walo Omana has written two mathematics books. She has also published more than 20 math articles. Her work on ordinary differential equations and fuzzy logic has been used in different areas. For example, it has helped in understanding diseases (epidemiology) and even in law. Most of her math articles focus on creating mathematical models and studying functional analysis.

A Look at Her Life

Omana's parents were not university professors or researchers. However, some of her brothers and sisters have master's degrees. Her teachers and her father were big influences on her decision to become a mathematician.

She once said, "mathematics is fantastic; as its name is female, it is a domain that should belong to us women."

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