Dr Angela Tabiri:1st African to win The World’s Most Interesting Mathematician award

A 35-year old Ghanaian Mathematician, Dr Angela Tabiri,  has emerged as the first African to be crowned The World’s Most Interesting Mathematician 2024.

The Academic Manager for the Girls in Mathematical Sciences Programme (GMSP) of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Ghana, is not just a genius in mathematics, but a promoter of science, technology engineering and mathematics.

Road to winning

Over the past month, 16 fascinating mathematicians competed in The Big Internet Math-Off, hosted by The Aperiodical, culminating in a final showdown between an American, Matt Enlow, and Angela Tabiri.

Dr Tabiri  triumphed to emerge as the winner of The World’s Most Interesting Mathematician 2024.

Dr Tabiri’s winning pitch captivated audiences with a hands-on activity demonstrating the constancy of Pi (π) and an exploration into the world of prime numbers and the Italian Mathematician, Fibonacci’s  sequence.

She demonstrated how the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter is always π, and revealing intriguing patterns within prime numbers and the golden ratio in nature.

Dr Tabiri, an alumnus of AIMS, is currently the Academic Manager for the Girls in Mathematical Sciences Programme (GMSP) of AIMS, which seeks to nurture the talents of senior high school girls in the country to unlock their potential in the mathematical sciences.

She is the organiser of Science Slam Ghana, a science communication event where researchers present their research to a lay audience in fun and engaging ways. 

STEM Education

Additionally, Dr Tabiri is the founder of Femafricmaths, a non-governmental organisation that promotes female African mathematicians, interviewing mathsqueens on the Femafricmaths YouTube channel to inspire young people about the different career options available when one studies mathematics.

Dr Tabiri is a dedicated advocate of STEM education, which promotes female African mathematicians and diverse careers in mathematics.

A graduate of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) with a postgraduate diploma in mathematics, Dr Tabiri is a scholar from the University of Glasgow, UK, through the Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Fellowship.

A specialist in Abstract Mathematics, she currently lectures Mathematics for Machine Learning. Dr Tabiri took the Daily Graphic through the various stages of the contest until the finals, where she emerged the eventual winner.

Mastering Mathematics

In an interview on the award with the Daily Graphic, Dr Tabiri said the ability to master Mathematics did not matter where one was from, but that it took lots of effort.
Admitting that maths was challenging, she said it required constant practice, commitment and determination.

Dr Tabiri explained that though Maths was considered difficult, using familiar things as learning materials and examples would facilitate the understanding of the learners.

She advised the learners to constantly practice what they were taught in the classroom, so as to be able to absorb whatever they had been taught.

“As it is always said, practice makes perfect,” she added, saying that though the subject could be difficult, perseverance conquered all.

Dr Tabiri further advised learners to study in groups since some might have had a better understanding of the topic, stressing that sometimes peer learning was effective.