African-American mathematician Dudley Weldon Woodard was born October 3, 1881, in Galveston, Texas, where his father worked for the U.S. Postal Service.
Woodard was a smart child whose curiosity was supported by his family.
After finishing his primary education in his home state, Woodard attended Wilberforce College in Ohio, receiving a bachelor degree (A. B.) in mathematics in 1903. He then received a B. S. degree in 1906 and an M. S. degree in mathematics at the University of Chicago in 1907.
From 1907 to 1914, Woodard taught mathematics at Tuskegee Institute and then moved to join the Wilberforce faculty from 1914-1920.
In 1921, he joined the mathematics faculty at Howard University. During this time received his Ph.D. in mathematics in 1928 at the University of Pennsylvania; his thesis was entitled, On Two-Dimensional Analysis Situs with Special Reference to the Jordan Curve Theorem.
Woodard became only the second African-American to earn a Ph.D. degree in mathematics.
While at Howard, he was also selected dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (his son later also joined the faculty at Howard).
Dr. Woodard established the M. S. degree program in mathematics, making Howard's mathematical program one of the best for study among America’s historically Black universities and colleges.
He was the thesis supervisor for many of Howard's M. S. degree students. He also established the mathematics library at Howard. He established and sponsored several professorships and many scholarly seminars in mathematics. Among his colleagues and students, Woodard excelled and was very popular as professor and administrator.Deane Montgomery, former president of the American Mathematical Society and the International Mathematical Union, described Woodard as, "an extremely nice man, well-balanced personally." Leo Zippin, who was an internationally known specialist in Woodard's field, said that he was "one of the noblest men I've ever known."
Dr. Woodard was not only a brilliant mathematician, but a man of dignity; he enjoyed life in spite of his racial environment. He used the phrase "Black is beautiful" in the 1930s; he often ignored the "colored" signs and visited any men's restroom of his choice. He also ate at many "nice" restaurants and enjoyed the theaters of his choice in New York. He and his family once moved into what had been an all-white neighborhood because it was aesthetically nice and it was near Howard.
Woodard devoted his entire professional life to the promotion of excellence in mathematics through the advancement of his students, teaching, and research. Dudley Woodard retired in 1947 and died July 1, 1965 in his home in Cleveland Ohio.
The Modern History of Blacks in Mathematics
Wash DC article
Survived by wife Gertrude, son Dudley H,two grandsons Dudley Jr. and Weldon C. Three great-grandchildren,Leslie, Laurie and Holly.
Name: Woodard, Mrs. Dudley W.
Date: Jun 30 1973
Source: Plain Dealer; Cleveland, Ohio Necrology File, Reel #168.
Notes: Services for Mrs. Dudley W. Woodard, 91, who retired in 1947 as dean of the former Miner Teachers College. Washington. D.C., will be in the Wade Memorial Chapel Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio at 9 a.m. Monday.
Mrs. Woodard, a resident of Cleveland, Ohio since 1957, died Wednesday in the Jewish Convalescent Hospital.
Her husband, Dudley Woodard former dean of the liberal arts college of Howard University, is deceased.
Survivers include a son, Dudley H.
In recent years, Mrs. Woodard lived at 1801 E. 12th Street.