Biography:
Lenore Carol Blum (née Epstein, born December 18, 1942) is an American computer scientist and mathematician who has made significant contributions to the fields of real number computation, cryptography, and pseudorandom number generation. Throughout her career, she has held various prestigious positions and has been a pioneer in diversifying the fields of mathematics and computer science.
Blum was born to a Jewish family in New York City, where her mother worked as a science teacher. When Blum was nine years old, her family relocated to Venezuela. At the age of 16, she graduated from her Venezuelan high school and began studying architecture at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in 1959. With the guidance of Alan Perlis, she shifted her focus to mathematics in 1960. During this time, she married Manuel Blum, who was studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Blum transferred to Simmons College, a women’s liberal arts college in Boston, where she had the opportunity to take mathematics classes at MIT. In 1963, she graduated from Simmons with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics. Subsequently, Blum obtained her Ph.D. in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1968, with her dissertation titled Generalized Algebraic Theories: A Model Theoretic Approach, under the supervision of Gerald Sacks.
Blum faced gender-based obstacles during her early career. She initially went to the University of California, Berkeley, where she worked as a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer in mathematics with Julia Robinson. However, due to the lack of permanent positions for women in the department, her lecturer position was not renewed after two years. Blum’s experience led her to become one of the founders of the Association for Women in Mathematics in 1971. This organization played a pivotal role in advocating for women’s representation in mathematics and supporting their professional development.
In 1973, Blum joined the faculty at Mills College, a women’s college in the Oakland hills near Berkeley. She went on to establish the mathematics and computer science department at Mills, making it the first computer science program at a women’s college during that time. For 13 years, she served as the head or co-head of the department. Blum’s dedication to promoting diversity and empowering women in mathematics led her to become the third president of the Association for Women in Mathematics from 1975 to 1978. Additionally, she was elected as a Member at Large on the council of the American Mathematical Society from 1978 to 1980.
Blum’s contributions to her fields of expertise are highly regarded. In 1979, she received the first Letts-Villard Chair at Mills, which was an endowed professorship. Her work has also been recognized beyond the realm of academia. In 1983, she was awarded the National Science Foundation Visiting Professorship for Women, which allowed her to collaborate with Michael Shub.
Throughout her career, Lenore Blum has made lasting impacts in mathematics and computer science through her research, teaching, and efforts to increase diversity. Her dedication to promoting the representation of women in these fields has inspired many and has contributed to paving the way for future generations of women mathematicians and computer scientists.
Awards:
– First Letts-Villard Chair at Mills College (1979)