Elayne Arrington

Elayne Arrington (born c. 1940) is an American mathematician and engineer. She was the first African American woman to graduate with a bachelor's degree from the School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. After earning her Ph.D., she went on to conduct performance analyses of Soviet Union aircraft at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.[1][2]

Elayne Arrington
Bornc. 1940
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Pittsburgh
University of Cincinnati
Known forFirst African American woman to graduate from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Engineering
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
Engineering
InstitutionsWright-Patterson Air Force Base
University of Pittsburgh
Thesis'The P-Frattini Subgroup of a Finite Group' (1974)
Doctoral advisorDonald B. Parker

Early life and education

Elayne Arrington grew up in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Homestead High School (now Steel Valley High School) in 1957 where she received the second highest SAT score in mathematics (797 out of 800).[3] Despite finishing first in her class, Elayne was denied the opportunity to deliver the valedictory address. Instead school administrators assigned the speech to the class president who was white and male.[3]

Arrington was recommended for a full-ride scholarship to study mechanical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, but the sponsor, the Mesta Machine Company, withdrew her scholarship, saying that the money had to be given to a man because women "do not finish engineering programs."[4] In spite of that prediction, in 1961 Arrington became the first African-American woman to graduate from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Engineering, and as a member of the engineering honorary Pi Tau Sigma.[4] She discussed the nature of the obstacles she faced to Rouvalis.[2]

“Some of [the barriers] may have been racial prejudice, but they didn’t even have to get to racial because being a girl in engineering, being female, was enough.”[2]

Arrington went on to earn a master's degree in mathematics from the University of Dayton in Ohio, and while working on her master's Arrington, a Charles Phelps Taft Fellow, also took math courses at Oxford University.[2][3] She earned her Ph.D. in math at the University of Cincinnati in 1974 with a thesis titled The P-Frattini Subgroup of a Finite Group, supervised by Donald B. Parker.[2][5] She became the 17th African-American woman in the United States to earn a PhD in mathematics.[3][6]

Career

Arrington was hired as an aerospace engineer working in the Foreign Technology Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.[6] At the base, she analyzed the performance of Soviet Union aircraft.[6]

In 1974 with her newly earned doctorate, she returned to the University of Pittsburgh where she taught in the department of mathematics and statistics. Arrington cut back her work schedule in 2012, and fully retired from the university in 2018.[2][3][7]

In 2007, she was named a board member of the Community College of Allegheny County.[7]

In 2016, Arrington took a class at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in New Testament Greek "so she could read the Bible in its original language."[2] She pursued theological studies classes at the University of Pittsburgh and is planning to complete her studies in 2021 at the age of 81, for another master’s degree, this one in theological study.[2]

Awards

In April 2007, Arrington received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Pittsburgh's African American Alumni Council.[6]

References
  1. Wojcik, Joe (15 February 2017). "Pioneer role model for next generation". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  2. Rouvalis, Cristina. "Against the Odds". Pitt Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
  3. "Elayne Arrington". www.pts.edu. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  4. "Robert Hill: Pittsburgh's own 'Hidden Figures'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  5. "University of Cincinnati Mathematics PhD Alumni".
  6. "Four Inspiring African-American Women Honored at University of Pittsburgh - SWSG". SWSG. 2017-07-20. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  7. "6 Apr 2007, Page 12 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
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