Women Who Inspire Us
Legends

Marjorie Lee Browne

Marjorie Lee Browne, a notable contributor to the field of mathematics, was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1914. Browne's father and stepmother encouraged her to study math.

Marjorie graduated cum laude from Howard University in 1935. She then earned her MS in mathematics from the University of Michigan in 1939. She became a teaching fellow in 1947 at the University of Michigan. In 1949, Browne earned her doctorate in mathematics, one of the first two Black women to do so.

Browne taught mathematics at North Carolina College after graduating from Michigan University. Shortly thereafter, in 1951, she became the chair of the Mathematics department.

Browne was a National Science Foundation Faculty Fellow studying computing and numerical analysis at the University of California at Los Angeles. She studied differential topology at Columbia University in 1965-66, where she won a fellowship. In 1975 Browne was the first recipient of the W.W. Rankin Memorial Award for Excellence in Mathematics Education.

In the last years of her life, Browne used her own money to help gifted math students pursue their education. Some students came to her with less than adequate preparation; she helped them pursue the study of mathematics and complete their Ph.D degrees.