Sylvia Bozeman

Sylvia D. Trimble Bozeman (née Sylvia Trimble, born 1 August 1947) is an African American mathematician and mathematics educator and professor emerita at Spelman College.

Early life and education Sylvia Bozeman was born in Camp Hill, Alabama on 1 August 1947. Her high school mathematics teacher, Mr. Frank Holley, further cultivated her interest. He came back after school and taught trigonometry (a course not offered in the curriculum) to her and a group of committed students.

Bozeman graduated from Edward Bell High School in Camp Hill in 1964 and enrolled in undergraduate studies in mathematics at the historically black school Alabama A&M University, during which she also worked on summer projects at NASA and Harvard University. She graduated in 1968 as salutatorian and moved with her husband Robert, also a mathematician, to Vanderbilt University, which had been integrated the prior year, where they both began their graduate studies.

In 1968, linear algebra was emerging as a regular required course in mathematics curricula. It was offered for the first time when she was a senior at Alabama A&M, but she didn't take it. The Vanderbilt faculty suggested Bozeman take it her first year in graduate school, but when she realized it was an undergraduate course, she refused, later saying "I paid for that decision for the rest of my graduate years. I spent a long time trying to learn linear algebra on my own".

Doctorate and career As my career provides me with many opportunities of professional involvement, it is my commitment to always remain 'connected' with mathematics through teaching and/or other scholarly endeavors, and to continue to promote the development of women in mathematics. and as an adjunct faculty member in the Math Department at Atlanta University from 1983 to 1985. In 1993, Bozeman established the Center for the Scientific Applications of Mathematics at Spelman College, and served as director.

EDGE program Sylvia Bozeman was one of the founders of Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education (EDGE), a transition program for women entering graduate studies in mathematical sciences. According to Bozeman, male faculty tend to be less sensitive to how women treat their studies; for example, women might not speak in class unless they really know what they are talking about, and generally have higher standards for their grades. Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) (2012) Fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics, in the inaugural class (2017) Black History Month Honoree – Mathematically Gifted & Black (2017) In 2019 she received the inaugural MAA Award for Inclusivity. She is a former AMS Council member at large. She was included in a deck of playing cards featuring notable women mathematicians published by the Association for Women in Mathematics.