Dr. Vivienne Malone Mayes

Vivienne Lucille Malone was born in Waco, Texas, to her parents, Pizarro and Vera Lucille Estelle Allen Malone.

- 

Growing up as part of a Black community in the deeply segregated South during the Jim Crow era was a tough experience. Despite the challenges, her parents’ strong support, both of whom worked in education, inspired her to focus on her studies. She graduated from A. J. Moore High School in 1948.

At just 16 years old, she began her college journey at Fisk University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in 1952 and her master’s degree in 1954. In 1952, she married James Mayes and became a mother to a daughter named Patsy Anne Mayes Wheeler. Although she initially planned to study medicine, she fell in love with mathematics after learning from influential educators like Evelyn Boyd Granville and Lee Lorch. Granville was one of the first two Black women to earn a PhD in mathematics.

After completing her master’s degree, Malone became the chair of the Mathematics Department at Paul Quinn College for seven years, then spent a year at Bishop College. She later wanted to continue her education with more advanced math courses, but faced a setback when she was denied admission to Baylor University because of segregation. Undeterred, she took summer courses at the University of Texas to further her studies.