Born: 1933 (Wickliff, Louisiana)
Biography:
Mary Lovenia DeConge-Watson, born in 1933 in Wickliff, Louisiana, is an American mathematician and former nun. She is known for being the 15th African-American woman to earn her Ph.D. in mathematics. DeConge-Watson’s journey towards becoming a mathematician and her contributions to the field are both inspiring and significant.
DeConge-Watson grew up as the seventh of nine children in a family headed by Adina Rodney DeConge and Alphonse Frank DeConge. At the age of 16, she joined the Sisters of the Holy Family and became a nun in the Holy Order of the Sisters of Saint Francis.
Between 1952 and 1955, DeConge-Watson worked as an elementary school teacher in parochial schools in Baton Rouge and Lafayette. During this time, she attended Seton Hill College, where she pursued studies in mathematics and French. She was the second Black student to attend the college.
In 1959, DeConge-Watson graduated from Seton Hall College and began teaching French and math at Holy Ghost School in Opelousas, Louisiana. Her dedication to education and her passion for mathematics led her to pursue further studies. In 1962, she earned a master’s degree in mathematics from Louisiana State University.
DeConge-Watson’s pursuit of knowledge and her commitment to teaching led her to DeLisle Junior College in New Orleans, where she taught from 1963 to 1964. She then embarked on her Ph.D. studies at Tulane University before transferring to St. Louis University, where she completed her doctoral degree in mathematics in 1968. Her dissertation focused on 2-Normed Lattices and 2-Metric Spaces.
Throughout her academic journey, DeConge-Watson also worked as a teacher at Holy Ghost High School in Opelousas, Louisiana, and DeLilse Junior College in New Orleans. After earning her Ph.D., she served as an assistant professor of mathematics at Loyola University in New Orleans from 1968 to 1971. In 1971, she joined the faculty of Southern University in Baton Rouge as an assistant professor and later became a full professor in 1982.
During her tenure at Southern University, DeConge-Watson made significant contributions to the field of mathematics. She spent many years training elementary school teachers for their math competency exams and developed an unpublished text as part of the training program. Additionally, she served as the director of the Center for Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology at Southern University from 1995 to 1998.
DeConge-Watson’s work has been published in prestigious journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, The Notices of the American Mathematical Society, and the Journal of Mathematical Analytical Applications. She is particularly known for her publications related to Cauchy’s Problem for Higher-Order Abstract Parabolic Equations.
Outside of her academic pursuits, DeConge-Watson’s personal life took a significant turn in 1976 when she decided to leave the religious order. In 1983, she married Roy Watson Sr.
DeConge-Watson’s accomplishments as an African-American mathematician and her dedication to education have made her a trailblazer in her field. Her perseverance and passion for mathematics have not only opened doors for future generations of African-American mathematicians but have also made a lasting impact on society.