Rebecca Walo Omana facts for kids

Rebecca Walo Omana, born on July 15, 1951, is an amazing mathematician, professor, and a Catholic nun from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1982, she made history by becoming the first female mathematics professor in her country. She helps lead the math and computer science doctoral program at the University of Kinshasa. She is also a vice-president of the African Women in Mathematics Association. Rebecca is very interested in how math can solve problems using things like differential equations and modeling.

Rebecca's Early Life and Studies

Rebecca Walo Omana was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She loved mathematics when she was in high school. At 18, she decided to become a Catholic nun with the Soeurs de St Francois d'Assise. She made her final vows in 1978.

Rebecca studied mathematics in Canada. She earned her bachelor's degree from the Université du Québec à Montréal in 1979. Then, she got her master's degree from the Université Laval in 1982. In both universities, she was the only African woman in her department. She shared how she felt during this time:

I had to double effort to be better and remove negative prejudices in the heads of my colleagues and my professors to be accepted. But in view of results, I was not only accepted but invited by groups of colleagues for research works.

This means she worked extra hard to prove herself. Because of her great results, her classmates and teachers not only accepted her but also asked her to join their research projects!

Becoming a Professor and Earning a Doctorate

In 1982, Rebecca Walo 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 another advanced degree in 1985. In 1990, she received her Ph.D. from the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium. She worked with her advisor, Jean Mawhin. Rebecca was the first Congolese woman to earn a doctorate from that university.

Leading in Mathematics and Education

Rebecca Walo Omana has done a lot to help others learn math. She was the director of a journal called la revue Notre Dame de la Sagesse. She has also guided many students who were working on their own doctorates. She hopes that some of her students will also become female professors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Today, Rebecca leads the mathematics doctoral program at the University of Kinshasa. Since 2010, she has also been the head of the Université Notre-Dame de Tshumbe (UNITSHU). This is a Catholic public university founded in 2010 in Tshumbe, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Rebecca's Mathematical Work

Rebecca Walo Omana has written two books about mathematics. Her work on ordinary differential equations has been used in many areas. For example, it helps understand how diseases spread (epidemiology) and even in law.

Rebecca's Personal Life

Rebecca's parents were not academics, but some of her brothers and sisters have master's degrees. Her teachers and her father helped her decide 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." This shows her passion for math and her belief that more women should join the field.

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