David Harold Blackwell

views updated

David Harold Blackwell

1919-

American mathematician who is the only African-American mathematician to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Born in Centralia, Illinois, Blackwell earned his bachelor's degree (1938), master's (1939), and Ph.D. (1941) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He holds numerous honorary doctorates from other institutions.