David Blackwell, eminent mathematician and 1st black Academy of Sciences scholar, dead at 91

Eminent mathematician David Blackwell dead at 91

BERKELEY, Calif. — David Blackwell, a pre-eminent mathematician and the first black scholar in the National Academy of Sciences, has died. He was 91.

University of California, Berkeley officials said Blackwell died of natural causes at a Berkeley hospital on July 8.

Blackwell was the first tenured black professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught for nearly 35 years.

Blackwell was known as a problem-solver who contributed to many areas, including probability and game theory.

Blackwell attended the University of Illinois, earning a doctorate there in 1941 when he was 22. His initial teaching appointments were blocked because of his race.

He joined Howard University in 1944 and was eventually hired by Berkeley, where he worked until his retirement in 1988.