Wade Ellis, Sr.
Born: June 9, 1909
Birthplace: Chandler, Oklahoma
Wade Ellis earned all his degrees in Mathematics - a B.S. from Wilberforce University (1928), an M.S. from the University of New Mexico (1938), and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1944 - he was the tenth African American to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics.
Prior to obtaining his Ph.D., Dr. Ellis taught in Oklahoma's segregated schools, at Fort Valley State College and Fisk University. In 1945 he was on the staff of the Radiation Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He held the position of Mathematician, Air Force Laboratory from 1946-1948. From 1948 to 1967, Dr. Ellis was Professor of Mathematics at Oberlin College. In 1967 he became Associate Dean of the Rockingham School of Graduate Studies at the University of Michigan.The Ellis family is considerably mathematically inclined. His brother James R. Ellis earned an M.S. in Mathematics from the University of New Mexico, and a D.Ed. from the Universiy of Tulsa. In 1971 he was Chairman of the Mathematics Department of Langston University. Dr. Wade Ellis' son Wade Ellis, jr. is also a mathematician and an officer of the Mathematical Association of America. Dr. James Ellis, sr. son James is a computer scientist.
I would like to thank Dr. Ellis' grandniece Tomisa Starr, and for information on the mathematically inclined Ellis family.
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