Angie Turner King

Angie Lena Turner King (December 9, 1905 – February 28, 2004) was an American chemist, mathematician, and educator. King was an instructor of chemistry and mathematics at West Virginia State High School, and a professor of chemistry and mathematics at West Virginia State College (present-day West Virginia State University) in Institute.

Born in the segregated coal-mining community of Elkhorn in McDowell County, West Virginia, in 1905, she had a difficult childhood following her mother's death when she was eight years old. King graduated from the laboratory high school at West Virginia Colored Institute at age 14 in 1919, and studied at Bluefield Colored Institute (present-day Bluefield State University) before transferring to West Virginia State (then known as the West Virginia Collegiate Institute). She graduated cum laude from West Virginia State in 1927 with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and mathematics. King began her career in education at West Virginia State High School, West Virginia State's laboratory high school; she attended graduate school during the summers at Cornell University, where she received a master's degree in physical chemistry in 1931.

After teaching high school for eight years, King became an associate professor at West Virginia State College and refurbished its laboratory to improve the quality of her students' scientific research. Following the outbreak of World War II, she taught chemistry to soldiers in West Virginia State's Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) unit. King later attended the University of Pittsburgh, where she became a Doctor of Philosophy in general education in 1955. She mentored several notable students, including entomologist and activist Margaret Strickland Collins, mathematician Katherine Johnson, and Jasper Brown Jeffries of the Manhattan Project. King chaired West Virginia State College's Division of Natural Resources and Mathematics before retiring from the college in 1980. She continued to live on the West Virginia State campus after her retirement, and in 1992 the school presented her with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

Early life and education Angie Lena Turner King (née Turner) was born in the segregated coal-mining community of Elkhorn in McDowell County, West Virginia, on December 9, 1905. She was the daughter of William Turner and his wife, Laura King Turner, who were from Virginia. King had two siblings: Sylvia and Irving. King eventually lived with her father,

She graduated from high school at age 14 in 1919. When King graduated, her hometown was listed as Eckman. During the summers, she attended Cornell University and paid her own tuition. She received a master's degree in physical chemistry from Cornell in 1931. She taught at West Virginia State High School for eight years, until she was offered a teaching position as an associate professor at West Virginia State College. During the summer of 1939, King completed graduate coursework in education at the University of Chicago.

After the outbreak of World War II, West Virginia State received an Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) unit in 1943 and 1944. King, one of West Virginia State's instructors for the ASTP soldiers, taught chemistry. Her dissertation was entitled An Analysis of Early Algebra Textbooks Used in American Secondary Schools before 1900. King's master's thesis and doctoral dissertation were her only published research. In the West Virginia State High School Reunion Booklet, 27 former students chose King as their favorite teacher; at least 20 of those students finished graduate school. King taught Johnson geometry in high school and mathematics in college, and continued to encourage Johnson in her mathematics studies. During the 1970s, she traveled to Africa to visit Presbyterian missions and to obtain information on the status of women in Zaire, Kenya, and Ethiopia; she made a presentation on "The Status of Women in East Africa" to the Lewisburg branch of the American Association of University Women in 1974. King chaired the West Virginia Governor's Commission on the Status of Women, and spoke with Gloria Steinem at a conference on Appalachian women at Morris Harvey College in 1975. In 1992, the school awarded King an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. She died in Institute on February 28, 2004. She and her husband had five daughters, whom King raised while working and continuing her postgraduate studies. In 1954, she was the first West Virginia State Alumna of the Year. King was a member of the American Association of University Women, serving as second vice president and president of the West Virginia division. She was a member-at-large of the World Missions Chairmen's Association of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, an ecumenical mission and relations chairperson of the Guyandotte Presbyterian Church, and an elder of Dunbar Presbyterian Church. The chapter was founded as a graduate chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha in the Charleston-Institute area. She was president of the Alpha Omicron Omega chapter from 1935 to 1937, and was honored by Alpha Kappa Alpha with a sorority citation in 1968.