Fun Stuff

This page was updated on: August 8, 2009.

POLITICS, GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SERVICE

Ralph Abernathy (1926-1990)  American civil rights leader. Helped organize the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott in 1955 with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Earned a BS in Mathematics, from Alabama State University in 1950.

Corazon Aquino (1933-2009) First female president of the Philippines (1986-92). Studied mathematics at College of Mt. St. Vincent in New York City, before changing her major to French.

Harry Blackmun (1908-1999) Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court (1970-94). Earned a B.S., Mathematics, from Harvard University in 1929.

David Dinkins (1927 -) Mayor of New York City (1989-93). Earned a BA, Mathematics, from Howard University.

Paul Painlevé (1863-1933) Served three brief terms as Prime Minister of France (1917 and 1925). Distinguished mathematician who received a doctorate degree in 1887.

William Perry (1927- ) US Secretary of Defense (1994-97) under Bill Clinton. Earned a PhD, Mathematics, from Penn State University in 1957.

Eamon de Valera (1882-1975) President of Ireland (1959-73). Before that, he had served three terms as prime minister. Received a mathematics degree in 1904 from the Royal University of Ireland.

LITERATURE, MEDIA AND THE ARTS

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) Author of "Alice in Wonderland." Received his mathematics degree from the University of Oxford (England).

Philip Glass (1937- ) American composer. Entered the University of Chicago at the age of 15 and received a Bachelor's degree in mathematics.

Art Garfunkel (1941- ) Performed with Paul Simon in the 1960s as "Simon and Garfunkel." Received a MA, Mathematics, from Columbia University in New York City in 1967.

Teri Hatcher (1964- ) One of the "Desperate Housewives." Started as a mathematics and engineering major at De Anza College in California, until she attended an open casting call which led to a different career choice.

Danica McKellar (1975- ) Starred in the TV show "The Wonder Years" from 1988 to 1993.  After leaving the show, she graduated from UCLA with degree in math and wrote two bestselling books, Math Doesn't Suck and Kiss My Math, which encourage middle school girls to learn math.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) Nobel prize winning novelist exiled from the Soviet Union in 1974 after spending many years in Soviet prison camps. Received his math degree from Rostov State University.

Bram Stoker (1847-1912) Author of "Dracula." Received a Master's Degree in mathematics.

SPORTS

Michael Jordan (1963- ) Yes, THAT Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls. He started as a math major at the University of North Carolina before switching to geography in his junior year.

David Robinson (1965- ) Former NBA MVP. In 1996 named "one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history." Graduated from the US Naval Academy with a BS, Mathematics.

Virginia Wade (1945- ) Famous tennis player and women's singles champion at Wimbledon. Graduated in 1966 from the University of Sussex (UK) with degrees in math and physics.

BUSINESS, EDUCATION AND ECONOMICS

Rodrigo Bañuelos (1953 or 1954- ) - Chairman of the math department at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and a recipient of the prestigious Blackwell-Tapia mathematics prize.  He arrived with his parents in Pasadena, California, at the age of 15 from rural Mexico, where he had received little formal education.  He began his college education several years later at a local community college, and went on to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics from UCLA in 1984.    

Jaime Escalante (1930- ) taught mathematics at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles.  His success in building up the Advanced Placement Calculus program in this troubled high school was the subject of the 1988 movie "Stand and Deliver."

John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) British economist whose work had a major impact on many governments' fiscal policies. Studied mathematics at Cambridge University (England).

John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) Banking, steel and railroad magnate. The "JP Morgan" in JP Morgan Chase Bank. Studied mathematics at the University of Goettingen (Germany).

THE INFAMOUS

Alberto Fujimori (1938- ) Former President of Peru (1990-2000). Received a MS, Mathematics, from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1969. Many credit him with bringing political and economic stability to the country. His critics accused him of being a corrupt dictator. A warrant for his arrest was issued in 2003 on charges of murder, kidnaping and crimes against humanity. On July 20, 2009, he was convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison. 

Ted Kaczynski (1942- ) Domestic terrorist known as the "Unabomber." Convicted of sending mail bombs to universities and airlines from the 1970s through the 1990s. Received a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Michigan. His current address is the federal maximium security prison in Florence, CO, where he probably has a lot of free time to continue his math studies, if he chooses.