Scott W. Williams facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Scott W. Williams
|
|
|---|---|
| Born | 22 April 1943 Staten Island, New York, USA
|
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Pre-doctoral: B.S. Mathematics (minor in Humanities) 1964 Morgan State College; M.S. Mathematics (1967) Lehigh University. Post-doctoral: Ph.D. Topology (minor in Algebra) 1969 Lehigh University; thesis: The Transfinite Cardinal Covering Dimension; Advisor: Samuel Gulden |
| Known for | Studies in topology and innovations in the field of mathematics |
| Awards | New York Chancellor Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1982 |
| Honours | Ford Foundation Senior Research Fellow, 1980-81
National Science Foundation research grant, 1983–87 Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, State University of New York (1982) 1986–1987 Fulbright-Lecturer (Prague Czechoslovakia) 1997 Keynote Address, A Sly Fox Approach to Racism, Conference on Black History, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, February 2004, selected as one of the 50 Most Important Blacks in Research Science. Professor Williams has published 32 papers, given MORE THAN eighty-five invited conference lectures, colloquia, and seminar lectures on his mathematics research at fifty-eight institutions in eight countries, and has lectured to high-ability high-school students. |
Scott Williams (born April 22, 1943, in Staten Island, New York) is a professor of mathematics at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. He is known for his important work in a field of math called topology. In 2017, he was honored by Mathematically Gifted & Black during Black History Month.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Scott Williams grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He went to Morgan State University and earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics.
Even before finishing his first degree, he was already solving tough math problems. He even helped write two papers about a complex math topic called Non-Associative Algebra. Later, Scott Williams earned his Master's and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics from Lehigh University in 1967 and 1969.
Career Highlights
From 1969 to 1971, Williams worked as a researcher at Pennsylvania State University. In 1971, he became an assistant professor of mathematics at the University at Buffalo. He worked hard and became a Full Professor at the university in 1985.
Professor Williams received the New York Chancellor Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1982. This award recognized his great skills in teaching. In 2004, Science Spectrum Magazine named him one of the 50 Most Important Blacks in Research Science.
Contributions to Mathematics
Dr. Williams mainly focused on topology, which is a branch of mathematics that studies shapes and spaces. In 1975, he was the first topologist to use a special math idea (now called b = d) to help solve a famous problem known as the Box Product problem. This problem is still being studied by mathematicians today.
Scott Williams also helped create important groups for mathematicians. He was one of two people who started Black and Third World Mathematicians, which later became the National Association of Mathematicians in 1971. In 1997, he also co-founded the Committee for African American Researchers in the Mathematical Sciences.
Mathematicians of the African Diaspora
In 1997, Professor Williams created a special website called Mathematicians of the African Diaspora (MAD). This website helps to show and celebrate the amazing contributions of Black mathematicians from around the world. It especially highlights their work in modern mathematical research.
