academic year 1963-64. When her husband was offered a coaching position at Morris Brown College in 1965, the family moved to Atlanta, also the site of Spelman College, an historically black women's college. Falconer's mother had studied at Spelman, and Falconer approached the head of the mathematics department, telling him that she wanted to teach there. She was appointed an instructor in 1965. In 1969 Falconer became the eleventh African American woman to receive a PhD in mathematics. She specialized in Abstract Algebra. Falconer advanced to associate professor, leaving Spelman in 1971 to join the mathematics department at Norfolk State University, where she taught for the academic year 1971-1972. Falconer returned to Spelman as professor of mathematics and head of the mathematics department. She held those positions until 1985. Falconer devoted 37 years of her life to teaching mathematics and improving science education at Spelman College. In 1995, she stated: "My entire career has been devoted to increasing the number of African American women in mathematics and mathematics-related careers." Along with her teaching career, Falconer strived to inspire more African American women to pursue careers in math or science by working with prominent organizations. This included the American Mathematical Society, the Mathematical Association of America, the Associate for Women in Mathematics, and the National Institute of Science. Awards and recognition Falconer was awarded the UNCF Distinguished Faculty Award (1986–1987), the Spelman Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching (1988),the Spelman Presidential Faculty Award for Distinguished Service (1994).In 1995, Falconer was honored by the Association for Women in Mathematics, who awarded her the Louise Hay Award for outstanding achievements in mathematics education. QEM’s Giants in Science Award (1995), and an honorary doctorate of science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1996). She was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1999. In 2001, she received the American Association for the Advancement of Science Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement. Death Falconer died of pancreatic cancer on September 18, 2002, in Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of sixty-eight. References External links "Etta Falconer", Biographies of Women Mathematicians, Agnes Scott College Abstract of doctoral dissertation "Isotopy Invariants in Quasigroups" 1933 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians American women mathematicians Mathematics educators Fisk University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Emory University alumni Spelman College faculty 20th-century American women scientists People from Tupelo, Mississippi Carver High School