David Blackwell, Mathematician, Author and Game Theorist (1919)

David Harold Blackwell (April 24, 1919–July 8, 2010), a mathematician, author and game theorist, entered the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at age 16 and was awarded a Ph.D. in Mathematics at age 22.

Also of note:

• Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao and David Blackwell formulated what has come to be known as the Rao–Blackwell Theorem in Statistics
• in 1965, he was the first African-American inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, an honor society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research for the furtherance of science and technology for humanity
• he was the first black tenured faculty member at University of California, Berkeley
• he authored the textbook Basic Statistics, which was published in 1969
• he was awarded the John von Neumann Theory Prize in 1979
• in 2002, the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, California, and Cornell University established the Blackwell-Tapia Award in honor of David Blackwell and Richard A. Tapia, distinguished mathematical scientists who have been inspirations to more than a generation of African-American and Hispanic-American students and professionals in the mathematical sciences¹
• Lastly, the following quote has been attributed to David Blackwell:

I've worked in so many areas—I'm sort of a dilettante. Basically, I'm not interested in doing research and I never have been. I'm interested in understanding, which is quite a different thing. And often to understand something you have to work it out yourself because no one else has done it.²

External Links:

1. David Blackwell (Bellevue College)
2. Arlie Petters receives first Blackwell-Tapia Prize

Quoted References:

1. Who Are The Greatest Black Mathematicians?
2. David Blackwell @ Wikipedia

Further References:

1. Rao-Blackwell Theorem @ Scholarpedia
2. National Academy of Sciences:  About the NAS

Alice H. Parker, Inventor (?)

Alice H. Parker is, indeed, a rare find. Not much biographical information was found on the Internet about her. Her biography is sometimes confused with that of another Alice Parker, a composer, arranger and conductor.

Alice Parker--the African-American inventor, that is--patented a gas-powered central heating furnace on December 23, 1919 (U.S. Patent 1,325,905).

External Links:

1. Alice H. Parker - True African American Heat (Parle Magazine)


2. Alice Parker History Beat: Now You Know (YouTube.com)


3. Alice Parker (theinventors.org)

References:

1. African-American Bibliography - Science & Medicine (University of Pennsylvania)


2. 2/21/03 Black History Month Special Report, Part III (UAW-Chrysler)

Marie Van Brittan Brown (1922)

At the time of this writing, not much biographical information could be gathered about Marie Van Brittan Brown (October 30, 1922-February 2, 1999)¹, unfortunately. Notwithstanding, she has been credited for:

• inventing, with her partner, Albert Brown,² the "home security system utilizing television surveillance,"³ (the forerunner to the modern home security system)


• receiving United States Patent No. 3482037 in 1969 for the invention⁴

External Links:

1. Marie Van Brittan Brown: Home Security Inventions


2. African-American Inventors & Inventions: African Women Inventors


3. The Significance of the Burglar Alarm | eHow.com


4. HOME SECURITY SYSTEM UTILIZING TELEVISION SURVEILLANCE - Marie, Van Brittan Brown


5. Marie Van Brittan Brown @ Wikipedia


6. US Black Engineer & IT - Google Books (Google Books search)


7. Black Inventions In Daily Life by Matt Montague (US Black Engineer & IT)

References:

1. Marie Van Brittan Brown @ Wikipedia


2. Marie Van Brittan Brown: Home Security Inventions


3. HOME SECURITY SYSTEM UTILIZING TELEVISION SURVEILLANCE - Marie, Van Brittan Brown


4. ibid.


5. African-American Inventors & Inventions: African Women Inventors


6. The Significance of the Burglar Alarm | eHow.com