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Best & Brightest: Math Whiz Has Sights Set on Making ‘Someone’s Life Better’

by Michelle D. Anderson , July 30, 2008

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Watching the long-running legal drama “Matlock” as a kid, Talea Mayo developed a fascination for the inductive reasoning and problem solving that were common in the show’s episodes.

“I loved the way all the pieces added up into a verdict. I have come to realize these are the same things I love about mathematics. They really aren't all that different,” says Mayo, Grambling University’s class of 2008 valedictorian.

The 22-year-old's first semester at Grambling was far from ordinary – the then-criminal justice major signed up for Calculus III, and her professor quickly noticed her young face in a sea of older students.

Noting Mayo’s talent, the professor encouraged Mayo to change her major to mathematics.

That she did, as well as play the flute for The Tiger Marching Band and The Concert Band throughout her four years at Grambling.

This involvement, she says, kept her focused. “Being in the band meant I had no time for games. I had just enough time to go to class, go to practice, do my work, and rest. My studies never suffered because it simply wasn't an option,” Mayo says.

Mayo also enrolled in the Minority Access for Research Careers (MARC) program, which pushed her to work hard to do more than she thought she could do. It also became a large motivating factor in her choice to pursue a Ph.D. 

The Colorado native’s scholarship, along with her perfect score on the mathematical portion of the GRE, was a contributing factor to her acceptance in multiple applied mathematics graduate programs, including at Rice University, Harvard, The University of Iowa, The University of Colorado at Boulder, and The University of Texas.

While at Grambling, Mayo held several internships, including one at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) and MSRI Undergraduate Program (MSRI-UP). Mayo's experience at MSRI helped her understand the difference between pure theoretical and applied mathematics.

“I really enjoy problem solving. I enjoy math in itself, but it is important to me that it be applied to real life problems,” she says.

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Comments posted here may be reprinted in Diverse: Issues In Higher Education magazine, and may be edited for purposes of clarity and/or space.



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