Sophie Dabo-Niang facts for kids

Sophie Dabo-Niang (her maiden name was Dabo) is a smart Senegalese and French mathematician and statistician. She is also a professor who works hard to help more African mathematicians succeed.

About Sophie Dabo-Niang

Her Early Life and Education

Sophie was lucky because her parents and teachers encouraged her to study mathematics. She knew she wanted to work with numbers and math very early, even when she was in high school.

Sophie Dabo-Niang earned her highest degree, a PhD, in 2002. She got this degree from the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, France. Sophie really enjoys teaching and sharing her love for mathematics with her students.

Her Family Life

Sophie Dabo-Niang is married and has four children. It's amazing to know that she had three of her children while she was still studying for her master's degree and finishing her PhD! She has said that it was a challenge to balance being a parent and having a career in mathematics. But she gives credit to her strong desire to succeed and the support from her husband for helping her through it all.

Her Work as a Mathematician

Sophie Dabo-Niang has written many articles about different types of statistics. This includes things like functional statistics, nonparametric statistics, and spatial statistics. She also studies how math can be used to understand diseases, which is called mathematical epidemiology.

She helps edit a science magazine called Revista Colombiana de Estadística. She is also part of an important scientific group for the Centre International de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées (CIMPA).

Helping Other Mathematicians

Sophie Dabo-Niang has successfully guided many students in Africa who were working on their PhDs. As of 2021, she is a full professor at the University of Lille in France. She continues to guide many African students in their studies. She has also taught advanced statistics classes, including some in her home country of Senegal.

She introduced a special area of study called spatial statistics to a university in Dakar, Senegal, which is the Gaston Berger University. She also guided the very first PhD students from Senegal and Mauritania who focused on this field. She often helps decide if students' PhD projects are good enough in Africa.

Sophie Dabo-Niang has also organized many science events in Africa. In Senegal, she helped organize an event for CIMPA. She also put together an event to encourage young girls to study math and science. She is the leader of the Developing Countries Committee for the European Mathematical Society. This means she helps mathematicians in countries that are still developing.

Awards and Recognitions

The African Women in Mathematics Association has featured Sophie Dabo-Niang's story. She was also honored by an organization called Femmes et Mathématiques in 2015.