Known in Ghana as the Queen of Mathematics, Dr. Angela Tabiri is the first African to win The Big Internet Math Off competition - a real feat for someone who had not initially planned to study mathematics.
The 35-year-old Ghanaian "finds joy in solving mathematical puzzles and questions" and hopes her 2024 victory will open the world of mathematics to other African women - who have traditionally been discouraged from taking an interest in the subject.
Sixteen mathematicians were invited to compete for the ironic title of "World's Most Interesting Mathematician" - a public voting event launched in 2018 by The Aperiodical blog.
The first winner was Dr. Nira Chamberlain, the first Black mathematician to be listed in the British reference book Who's Who and vice-president of the professional body, the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.
During the event, everyone competes against each other - so two in each match - then we move on to the quarter-finals and semi-finals until the grand match to decide who explained the chosen mathematical concept in the most enlightening way.
Dr. Tabiri's passion is quantum, or noncommutative, algebra, which she researches at the Ghanaian branch of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (Aims).
Aims began in South Africa, then expanded to Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon and Rwanda - to offer postgraduate training and research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Dr. Tabiri is also the academic lead for the Girls in Mathematical Sciences program, a mentoring and support program for secondary school girls in Ghana.
It was established by Aims Ghana in 2020 to "ensure that we have a pool of young girls who will be at the forefront of research and innovation in mathematical sciences - in academia and also in industry".
Dr. Angela Tabiri walks and speaks, holding a microphone, during a lesson and awareness event for the Innovate Her program at a girls' high school in Accra. The students, all in yellow uniforms, take notes while seated on benches in a classroom.
Dr. Angela Tabiri breaks the stereotype that mathematics is a "boys' subject"
Dr. Tabiri states that the number of girls and boys studying mathematics in high school is roughly equal, but then decreases at the university level.
This is partly due, she says, to the fact that female students believe that if they do mathematics, the only job they can do is teach, because mathematics is still considered a 'boys' subject' - and there are very few female role models.
This is something Dr. Tabiri is trying to change.
A journey through mathematics that's not so simple
She grew up in Ashaiman, one of the poorest and most densely populated areas of Tema, an industrial center and port located an hour's drive east of the capital, Accra.
The family home was cheerful but noisy - she has five sisters - and Dr. Tabiri often sought the peace and quiet of the local community youth center so she could study.
She wanted to follow in the footsteps of two sisters and study business administration at university.
Numbers and puzzles fascinated me, but I never thought a career in mathematics was for me."
But her grades, although high, were not high enough - and so she was accepted instead into mathematics and economics.
"It was a blessing in disguise," said Dr. Tabiri. "Numbers and puzzles fascinated me, but I never thought a career in mathematics was for me."
In 2015, Dr. Tabiri was awarded a scholarship to pursue her doctorate at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. It was hard work, she says – and it was there that she experienced a pivotal moment.
She went to see Hidden Figures, the film about the Black American mathematicians who worked at the American space agency, NASA, in the 1950s, during the era of segregation in the United States.
"It was incredible to see the story of these Black women told on this world stage," she recalls. "I got goosebumps watching it."
She was particularly inspired by Katherine Johnson, whose extraordinary mathematical skills and calculations were so essential to the success of American spaceflight.
“Katherine Johnson worked so hard – and for a long time her work remained hidden. She made me realize that I simply had to keep going.”
"If your work isn't recognized now, it will be one day. That was a real turning point for me."
Ghana achieved a historic milestone in 2024 when Dr. Gloria Botchway became the first woman to earn a PhD in mathematics from the University of Ghana.
It was a journey fraught with difficulties - including selling water and yams by the roadside at the age of six.
Dr. Tabiri is trying to help other African girls and women from less privileged backgrounds pursue their dreams of mathematics through her non-profit organization FemAfricMaths tion.
Along with other volunteers, she gives lessons to younger high school students in person and online.
She also publishes interviews she conducts with leading female mathematicians from around the world on social media.
Dr. Tabiri is also passionate about the potential of quantum science and technology, for which mathematics is essential.
She is proud that Ghana, supported by Mexico, spearheaded proposals to declare 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology by the UN, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the discovery of modern quantum mechanics.
Quantum mechanics stems from studies aimed at discovering how ultra-small particles - the most fundamental elements of matter, energy and light - interact with each other to constitute the world.
It led to the development of the Internet, solar cells, and global satellite navigation systems.
Researchers and major technology companies around the world, including China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa, are now engaged in a race to develop quantum technologies, including quantum computers and ultra-precise measurement and detection devices.
The hope is that complex problems will be solved at lightning speed and that major innovations will emerge in fields such as medicine, environmental science, food production and cybersecurity.
"Today there is a lot of talk about the advantages and disadvantages, the jobs that will be created," says Dr. Tabiri.
Dr. Angela Tabiri looks at and points to a blackboard on which math tips are written in chalk during a YouTube lesson by FemAfricMaths for middle school students.
Dr. Angela Tabiri wants children to aim high
Africa's rapidly growing population, which is already the youngest in the world, will be the world's largest workforce by 2040, according to the UN.
"But that doesn't mean we'll have jobs," says Dr. Tabiri.
She hopes to organize a "quantum roadshow" as a first step to introduce schoolchildren to quantum science at a much earlier age than she did.
"We want young people to start taking an interest in quantum science and to acquire all the necessary skills from their basic schooling," she explains.
The roadshow will build on a recent quantum computing course she helped organize for secondary school girls taking courses at Aims Ghana during their holidays.
The course covered the elements necessary to build a quantum computer, its current weaknesses, and the challenges that quantum computing poses to current systems, such as cryptography.
In collaboration with UNESCO, Dr. Tabiri will also organize a week-long "quantum hackathon" in July in Aims, Ghana for approximately 40 postgraduate students from various African countries.
"We want them to use their quantum skills to solve some of the biggest challenges we face, real-life problems," explains Dr. Tabiri.
