Elbert Cox's parents were Eugenia D Talbot and Johnson D Cox who were African Americans. Johnson Cox was the principal of a high school, having taken courses at Evansville College and graduate studies at Indiana University. The district of Evansville, where Elbert was brought, was racially mixed but schooling was segregated. His family were deeply religious with a love for education.
At high school Elbert showed talents which made his choice of career a difficult one. He was a talented violinist but also showed remarkable talents in mathematics and physics. What must have made a decision harder to make was that Cox was awarded a music scholarship which would have enabled him to travel to Europe to study at the Prague Conservatory of Music. His …show more content…
As Donaldson and Fleming write
The heavy workloads and lack of financial support in the historically black colleges made it nearly impossible to carry on any type of research program and produce publications needed to achieve a scientific reputation.However Cox was an outstanding teacher of mathematics. Blackwell, who was appointed to Howard University in 1944.
Year after year, our master's students consistently did much better in departmental oral examinations on material they'd studied with Cox than on material they'd studied with me or from our colleagues Woodward, Claytor, and others.During the years of World War II Cox contributed to the war effort by teaching engineering science and war management from 1942 to 1944 and also headed a specialist army training programme from 1943 to 1945. He was promoted to full professor at Howard University in 1947 and served twice as head of mathematics before it combined with physics in 1957
In 1957 the departments of mathematics and physics were merged, and Cox chaired the combined department until 1961. He retired in 1966 with the reputation of having supervised more master's theses than any other member of Howard's
At high school Elbert showed talents which made his choice of career a difficult one. He was a talented violinist but also showed remarkable talents in mathematics and physics. What must have made a decision harder to make was that Cox was awarded a music scholarship which would have enabled him to travel to Europe to study at the Prague Conservatory of Music. His …show more content…
As Donaldson and Fleming write
The heavy workloads and lack of financial support in the historically black colleges made it nearly impossible to carry on any type of research program and produce publications needed to achieve a scientific reputation.However Cox was an outstanding teacher of mathematics. Blackwell, who was appointed to Howard University in 1944.
Year after year, our master's students consistently did much better in departmental oral examinations on material they'd studied with Cox than on material they'd studied with me or from our colleagues Woodward, Claytor, and others.During the years of World War II Cox contributed to the war effort by teaching engineering science and war management from 1942 to 1944 and also headed a specialist army training programme from 1943 to 1945. He was promoted to full professor at Howard University in 1947 and served twice as head of mathematics before it combined with physics in 1957
In 1957 the departments of mathematics and physics were merged, and Cox chaired the combined department until 1961. He retired in 1966 with the reputation of having supervised more master's theses than any other member of Howard's