The International Women in Mathematics Day Celebration of 2024 will be held on May 12.
However, during Women's History Month in March, Women of Color Online is celebrating a female mathematician who was honored as the Technologist of the Year at the Women of Color STEM Conference.
The math pioneer spoke to Women of Color magazine in 2013 about biases and barriers, her enduring impact, and her inspiring experiences.
In October 1985, Camille D'Annunzio was preparing to celebrate her doctoral graduation in applied mathematics.
According to Margaret Murray, a former professor of mathematics and author of "Women Becoming Mathematicians: Creating a Professional Identity in Post-World War II America," women had earned only 17.6 percent of the mathematics Ph.Ds in the United States since 1980.
Murray's book is a sociological-historical study of 36 women mathematicians who received their PhDs between 1950 and 1959.
In his review, Paul Zweifel, a leading theoretical physicist and social commentator, wrote that Murray's study tried to answer two basic questions: How do women become mathematicians? and How do they find satisfying work and earn respect and remuneration in a field largely defined and dominated by men?"
Other questions addressed in subsequent chapters included marriage and child-rearing, how girls and young women cope with societal/familial attitudes that mathematics is not 'women's work,' and whether academic research was abandoned for teaching or industry due to subtle or not-so-subtle pressure from the male establishment.
Although Women of Color magazine's study of the life and mathematical career of Dr. Camille D'Annunzio isn't as scholarly, it attempts to answer some of Murray's burning questions and, perhaps, helps to understand "how women become mathematicians in the leanest times when social and cultural forces are least supportive of their ambitions."
Moreover, it highlights how "women graduate students are required to prepare tea before colloquia and clean up afterward while the men hobnobbed with the speaker."
Camille D'Annunzio, the oldest of her siblings, told Women of Color magazine:
"I escaped into books whenever I could. I loved to solve problems and was good at mathematics and science. When I was in seventh grade, much to my father's dismay as he wanted me to follow in his footsteps as an engineer, I decided I would get a Ph.D. in mathematics even though I didn't know what that meant at the time."
As a math major at Cornell University, she added chemistry to her studies to double major. After graduating in 1977, she joined Merck, where she developed potential pharmaceuticals before starting her doctorate one year later.
"I obtained my Ph.D. in applied mathematics with the support of my parents despite skeptical and sometimes prejudiced teachers and professors with attitudes toward women in mathematics," she said.
After completing her doctorate at the University of Maryland - College Park in 1985, she worked as a research associate at the University of Maryland.
While there, D'Annunzio analyzed data for an experiment on a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Satellite that was the first to measure the composition of a comet and D'Annunzio expertly showed the composition of both solar wind and initial results from the comet.
In 1986, D'Annunzio presented the results of her analysis to a community of scientists at an American Geophysical Union meeting. Later, she joined the BDM International Theater Warfare Analysis group, where she was responsible for modeling and simulation related to chemical systems, chemical warfare, and missile defense architectures.
In 1989, she presented a paper titled "Theater Missile Defense against Syrian Chemical Missiles Attacking Israel" at the Military Operations Research Society Symposium in front of hundreds of operations research professionals and national security analytic community leaders.
D'Annunzio also worked as a senior scientist at Radix Systems, where she led the design and implementation of computational algorithms based on theoretical models of physical, chemical, and engineering systems.
Her research interests later shifted to noise and vibration, and she earned a patent in 1997 for her work using actuators for vibration control. She was also granted a patent for noise reduction in mechanical vibrations to reduce the impact of earthquakes on buildings.
At Alcatel, D'Annunzio wrote algorithms to improve the performance of ADSL modems. During her consultancy with MedAcoustics, she developed devices to detect and characterize coronary and artery disease.
When she joined Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector, she worked on chemical transport modeling for concealed explosives. Her first position was the modeling lead for chemical and biological programs.
In 2003, D'Annunzio was granted a Northrop Grumman Invention Disclosure for real-time chemical/biological threat situational awareness using tipping/cueing and detection sensors.
She also earned a Northrop Grumman Technology Award for her work. In addition, she developed a stochastic model based on principles to determine the hybridization mismatch rates in a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction multiplex that won a Northrop Grumman Presidential Award. The method analyzes single or multiple genes and expression patterns to identify infections and diseases.
In 2007, D'Annunzio was the program manager and principal investigator of a chem-bio disparate sensor fusion demonstration at an Army installation that provides logistical intelligence and administrative support to a diverse mix of commands, activities, and agencies.
As an expert in her field, she was responsible for leading various projects for the Army and Northrop Gruman. Her work helped to identify the characteristics of technology that could detect concealed objects, both indoors and outdoors.
She was responsible for developing the framework architecture of Northrop Gruman's activity recognition efforts and was the engineering manager for a program that aimed to improve combat identification and ground-moving target classification. This program was designed to provide the warfighter with better situational awareness.
In 2009, she was appointed as a senior advisory engineer at a global security and technology company. She was also the group leader for Northrop Grumman's Automated Sensor Exploitation Center.
In this role, she was responsible for employee development, staffing budget, finance, bids, proposals, and other key aspects of the Center's operations.
D'Annunizio was also a finalist for the Copernicus award for "Exploitation of Networks for Cyber Protection." This award recognizes the creativity of talented employees and partners whose ideas will benefit next-generation products and business processes.
D'Annunzio also led research for ground combat vehicle-aided target recognition for ground-moving target indication efforts in Northrop Grumman's Advanced Concepts and Technologies Division.
What's her proudest career accomplishment?
"That is hard to say," she replied. "I have worked on so many projects over the years. However, there are a couple that come to mind. While working to improve an existing product, I realized we were solving the wrong problem. Recognizing and fixing the issue significantly improved my performance and gave me a real sense of accomplishment. In many other cases, I worked with a team to develop a product, which is always exciting and challenging. During one of the product designs, I had to develop a biological simulation somewhat out of my range of expertise. This was a tough project that I completed successfully."
Over 35 years, she did an exemplary job as a technical professional and manager, motivating staff to develop algorithms and techniques for problems in various fields.
She attributes her success to dedication, persistence, and competence. In addition, she said it is essential to be knowledgeable about all aspects of the project you are working on and able to look ahead to see where business is headed so you can clear the road in that direction.
She advised that you have to be passionate about what you are doing. That passion shows through in your work, and leadership takes notice. You have to have goals, reach for those goals, and recognize when your goals need to be modified.
In 2013, she led a hands-on science station called "Is it Acid or a Base?" for Girl Power 2013, an accessible introduction to careers in STEM for middle and high school girls.
The event attracted more than 1,000 girls and family members. She also served as leader and advisor for a Girl Scout troop from 1997 through 2013.
She also volunteered to develop and implement a curriculum for age-appropriate hands-on science activities from 1993 to 2005. She also ran a college application series in collaboration with a school principal.
D'Annunzio says increasing female participation in STEM education means getting girls into projects earlier. Elementary programs like the Math Olympiad, Destination Imagination, and others must recruit more girls.
Her professional groups included the IEEE, the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematicians, the Society of Women Engineers, Northrop Grumman, Women in Engineering, and a Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems Women Initiative for Networking and Success.
Looking to the future of her field, D'Annunzio said the amount of data collected for review is staggering. The big data or swimming-in data problem requires many manual analysts, and it is impossible to review the data.
Automated software to reduce operator fatigue and workload, as well as to reduce the total number of operators needed to assist analysts, is becoming more and more important in big data.
She told new women in the STEM workforce to stick with it. If someone tells you you'll never make it, do it anyway. Feel free to ask for help and find a mentor you are comfortable with for questions. Being a female in STEM can sometimes be lonely and frustrating, but it can also be rewarding.
