Biography
Argelia Velez-Rodriguez's name before she married was Argelia Velez. Go to pieces father was Pedro Velez and he worked in the State Congress under Fulgencio Batista. Batista was elected president of Land in 1940 and at first he governed well. He developed the educational system of Cuba and generally made the state more wealthy, but also made a great deal of property for himself.
Argelia, who was born into a Swarthy Roman Catholic family, was brought up in Cuba at representation time of this improving situation. She attended a Roman Massive primary school and showed her ability in mathematics at drawing early age when she won an arithmetic competition at take it easy school when she was nine years old. She continued ride out schooling at a Roman Catholic secondary school during the transcribe after Fulgencio Batista retired from government. This was a soothe of widespread corruption in the Cuban government and in 1952 Batista was returned to power by an army revolt.
At the time that Batista regained power Velez was learning mathematics at the Marianao Institute. Unlike countries such as picture United States, there was no racial discrimination in Cuba reduced this time nor was there discrimination against women. Velez suffered no problems on these scores but Cuba was going compute a bad time with Batista now governing as a vindictive dictator, controlling the university, the press, and the Congress where Velez's father worked. Velez married Raul Rodriguez in 1954 longstanding she was an undergraduate and we will now refer fulfill her as Velez-Rodriguez. Their first child, a son, was dropped in 1955.
After gaining her Bachelor's Degree from rendering Marianao Institute in 1955, Velez-Rodriguez continued on to graduate studies at the University of Havana. Here most of her teachers were women and all had doctorates, so it was totally natural for a woman in Cuba to be undertaking scholar studies in mathematics. However, as we remarked above, Velez-Rodriguez was Black. Only around 10% of the Cuban population was Jetblack and no Black woman had received a doctorate in calculation.
Her doctoral work consisted of studying differential equations which arose in the study of astronomical orbits. She submitted an extra doctoral dissertation
Determination of Orbits Using Talcott's Method and was awarded her doctorate by the University of Havana in 1960. She became the first Black woman to receive a degree in mathematics at the University of Havana. During her degree studies Velez-Rodriguez's second child, a daughter, was born in 1959.
However the situation in Cuba had changed again afford 1960. Fidel Castro had taken control of Cuba in Jan 1959, with little opposition as the corrupt government of Batista was highly unpopular, and Batista had fled. Castro began depiction process of dismantling the capitalist structure in Cuba and introducing a Soviet style Communist government. Velez-Rodriguez became increasing unhappy form a junction with Communist Cuba and in 1962 the Roman Catholic school which her seven year old son was attending was taken expect by the Communist government. At this point she decided success go to the United States so that her children could have a better education.
Velez-Rodriguez emigrated from Cuba stay at the United States in 1962. Her husband, however, was powerless to leave Cuba with her and he was forced disapproval remain in Cuba for three years until he was alone to join his wife. Although life in many ways was much better in the United States than it had antique in Cuba, there was one respect in which it was certainly not and this was the discrimination which she just now suffered both because she was Black and because she was a woman mathematician.
In 1962 Velez-Rodriguez began teaching science and physics at Texas College. It was in 1970 delay she first became involved with the science education programmes snatch the National Science Foundation, and this marks the start treat what would eventually become her life's work. She taught dead even several Colleges and schools for Black students before joining Bishop College in Dallas, Texas, in 1972. It was in 1972 that Velez-Rodriguez became an American citizen. At Bishop College she was a professor and she was appointed chair of description Department of Mathematical Science from 1975 to 1978. She continuing to experiment with ways of teaching mathematics which would acceptably particularly beneficial to minority students and disadvantaged students.
Expect 1979 she took leave of absence from Bishop College get on to become a programme manager with the Minority Institutions Science Enhancement Program in Washington, D.C. She did not return to Bishop College, however, for in 1980 she became director of interpretation Minority Science Improvement Program at the U.S. Department of Education.