A math queen with a quantum mission to mentor girls

Dr. Angela Tabiri, known in Ghana as the Queen of Math, has become the first African woman to win The Big Internet Math Off. This is quite an achievement for someone who has hardly ever done math.

The 35-year-old Ghanaian “finds joy in solving puzzles and mathematical problems” and hopes that her victory in 2024 will open up the world of mathematics to other African women who have traditionally been discouraged from studying the subject.

Sixteen mathematicians were invited to compete for the title of “World’s Most Interesting Mathematician”, a public vote launched in 2018 by The Aperiodical blog.

The first winner was Dr Neera Chamberlain, the first black mathematician to be included in Britain’s Who’s Who and vice-president of the professional body the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.

During the competition, they all compete against each other – so two in each match – and then there are quarter-finals and semi-finals before the big match to decide who explained their chosen math concept the best.

Dr. Tabira’s passion is quantum, or non-commutative, algebra, which she researches at the Ghana branch of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (Aims).

The goals started in South Africa and then expanded to Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon and Rwanda – to provide postgraduate training and research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Dr Tabiri is also the Academic Lead for the Girls in Maths programme, a mentoring and support scheme for senior and secondary school girls in Ghana.

It was established by Aims-Ghana in 2020 to “ensure we have a pipeline of young women who will lead research and innovation in the mathematical sciences – in academia as well as in industry”.

Dr Tabiri says the number of girls and boys studying maths at secondary school is about equal, but then falls at university level.

This is partly because, she says, female students assume that if they do maths, the only job they can do is teach, because maths is still seen as a “boy’s subject” – and there are very few female role models .

This is what Dr. Tabiri is trying to change.

But her path to mathematics was not easy.

She grew up in Ashaiman, one of the poorest, densely populated areas of Tema, an industrial center and port an hour’s drive east of the capital, Accra.

Her family home was happy but noisy – she has four sisters – and Dr Tabiri often sought peace and quiet at the local youth community center so she could study.

She wanted to follow in the footsteps of her two sisters and study business administration at university.

But the points, although high, are not enough – and that is why she was accepted for mathematics and economics.

“It was a blessing in disguise,” says Dr. Tabiri. “Numbers and puzzles fascinated me, but I never thought a career in math was for me.”

In 2015, Dr. Tabiri was awarded a PhD scholarship at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. It was hard work, she says, and that’s where she had her big moment.

She went to see the movie “Hidden Figures” about black American female mathematicians who worked for the American space agency NASA in the 1950s, during the era of segregation in the United States.

“It was amazing to see the story of these black women being told on the world stage,” she recalls. “I got goosebumps watching it.”

She was particularly inspired by Katherine Johnson, whose extraordinary mathematical skills and calculations were critical to the success of US spaceflight.

“Katherine Johnson worked so hard – and for a long time her work was hidden. She made me realize that I just had to keep going.

“If your work is not even recognized now, it will be recognized sometime in the future. It was a real turning point for me.”

Ghana achieved a historic milestone in 2024 when Dr. Gloria Botchway became the first woman to graduate from the University of Ghana with a PhD in Mathematics.

It was a journey full of hardships – including selling water and yams on the side of the road at the age of six.

Through her non-profit organization FemAfricMaths, Dr. Tabiri tries to support other African girls and women from less privileged backgrounds to fulfill their dreams in mathematics.

Together with other volunteers, she conducts classes with the youngest high school students face-to-face and online.

She also posts social media interviews with leading female mathematicians from around the world.

Dr. Tabiri is also very passionate about the potential of quantum science and technology, for which mathematics is very important.

She is proud that Ghana, with the support of Mexico, has led proposals to declare 2025 the UN International Year of Quantum Science and Technology – the 100th anniversary of the discovery of modern quantum mechanics.

Quantum mechanics emerged from research to find out how ultra-tiny particles – the most fundamental bits of matter, energy and light – interact with each other to create the world.

This led to the development of the Internet, solar panels and global navigation satellite systems.

Researchers and major technology companies from around the world – including China, the US, the UK, Australia and South Africa – are now racing to develop quantum technologies, including quantum computers and ultra-precise measuring and sensing devices.

The hope is that complex problems will be solved at lightning speed – and there will be huge innovations in fields such as medicine, environmental sciences, food production and cyber security.

“There’s a lot of talk now – the pros and cons – the jobs that will be created,” Dr Tabiri says.

Africa’s rapidly growing population, which is already the youngest in the world, will become the world’s largest workforce by 2040, according to the UN.

“But that doesn’t mean we’ll get the job,” says Dr. Tabiri.

She hopes to organize a “quantum road show” as a first step in introducing quantum science to schoolchildren at a much earlier age than her.

“We want young people to start showing interest and develop all the necessary skills during their basic schooling,” she says.

The road show will be based on a recent quantum computing course she conducted for high school girls attending classes at Aims-Ghana during the holidays.

The course discussed what it takes to build a quantum computer, its current shortcomings – and the challenges quantum computing poses for modern systems such as cryptography.

In collaboration with UNESCO, Dr. Tabiri will also host a week-long “Quantum Hackathon” in July in Ames, Ghana for about 40 graduate students from various African countries.

“We want them to use their quantum skills to solve some of the biggest problems we face, real-world problems,” says Dr. Tabiri.

“It is very necessary to prepare our youth for the next great revolution.”