[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 14, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1585-E1586]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING DAVID HAROLD BLACKWELL, PH.D.

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 14, 2010

  Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
extraordinary life of Dr. David Harold Blackwell, world-famous 
statistician, the first African American inducted into the National 
Academy of Sciences, professor emeritus at the University of 
California, Berkeley, and the university's first African American 
tenured faculty member. He was an elegant theoretician, an accomplished 
scholar and a devoted friend, husband, father, grandfather, uncle and 
colleague. Dr. Blackwell passed away on Thursday, July 8, 2010, in 
Berkeley, California, at the age of 91.
  Born April 24, 1919, David Harold Blackwell was the oldest of Mr. and 
Mrs. Grover and Mabel Blackwell's four children. During his humble 
upbringing in Centralia, Illinois, David taught himself to read by 
studying the labels of supplies at his grandfather's store. In 1935, at 
the age of 16, he entered the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign with plans to become an elementary school teacher. At a time 
when there were no African American professors, David Blackwell 
graduated with a B.A. in mathematics and continued at the university, 
earning a master's degree in 1939, and a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1941, 
at the age of 22.
  After being awarded a Rosenwald Fellowship for black scholars and 
winning a top fellowship to Princeton University's Institute for 
Advanced Study, Dr. Blackwell experienced the first of several career 
obstacles caused by racial prejudice. Undaunted by unequal treatment at 
Princeton and a blocked appointment at the University of California, 
Berkeley, Dr. Blackwell sent out applications to over a hundred black 
colleges. He eventually joined the faculty at Howard University in 
1944, fast becoming the head of the mathematics department.
  A lecture in Washington D.C. by Agriculture Department statistician 
Meyer A. Girshick not only influenced Dr. Blackwell's interest in 
statistics, but also initiated a close friendship and collaboration 
between the two colleagues. Their 1954 book, ``The Theory of Games and 
Statistical Decisions,'' established them as leaders in the burgeoning 
field of game theory, a mathematical analysis of winning strategies 
that can be applied to economics, biology, engineering, military 
strategy, political science and international relations.
  From 1948 to 1950, Dr. Blackwell used his expertise in game theory as 
a consultant to the U.S. military and RAND Corporation. His innovative 
take on established studies in multiple disciplines led to 
groundbreaking work in the mathematics of multistage decision-making, a 
textbook on Bayesian statistics, the independent invention of dynamic 
programming, and the development of the Rao-Blackwell Theorem.
  In 1955, more than a decade after Dr. Blackwell withstood racial 
discrimination and the loss of an appointment, he accepted tenure as a 
UC Berkeley professor. He became Statistics Department Chairman, as 
well as assistant dean of the College of Letters and Science from 1964 
to 1968. A self-described ``teacher,'' Dr. Blackwell mentored 65 Ph.D. 
students, wrote two books, and published more than 80 papers during his 
long career. He held 12 honorary degrees, including from Harvard, Yale, 
Carnegie Mellon and Howard universities. Throughout his life, Dr. 
Blackwell's worldwide accolades and professional and philanthropic 
associations became too numerous to count.
  Though Dr. Blackwell was preceded in death by his devoted wife of 62 
years, Ann Madison Blackwell, and four of his eight children, his 
surviving family members, including 14 grandchildren, are proud to 
celebrate his remarkable life as they mourn his passing.
  Today, California's 9th Congressional District salutes and honors Dr. 
David Harold Blackwell. Named one of the Four American Mathematicians 
Who Changed the World, we also recognize that he changed countless 
lives for the better. Our community is indebted to his life's 
contribution in myriad ways. He was a tremendous role model for the 
African American community and a compassionate, progressive advocate 
for peace and equality. We extend our deepest condolences to Dr. 
Blackwell's family and his extended group of loved ones. May his soul 
rest in peace.

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