Maths Queen with a quantum mission to tutor girls

Known as the Maths Queen in Ghana, Dr. Angela Tabiri is the first African to win The Big Internet Math Off competition – quite an achievement for a non-math.

The 35-year-old Ghanaian “finds joy in solving puzzles and mathematical questions” and hopes her win in 2024 will open up the world of mathematics to other African women – who have traditionally been discouraged from taking up the subject.

Sixteen mathematicians were invited to compete for the title of “world’s most interesting mathematician”; In 2018, The Aperiodical blog started a public voting event.

The first winner was Dr. Nira Chamberlain, the first black mathematician to be included in the British Who’s Who reference book and vice president of the professional body, Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.

In the event, everyone competes against each other – two in each game – and then it goes to the quarter-finals and semi-finals until the big game to decide who explained the chosen mathematical concept in the clearest way.

Dr. Tabiri’s passion is quantum or non-commutative algebra, and he researches at the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (Aims) branch in Ghana.

The goals started in South Africa and then expanded to Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon and Rwanda to provide postgraduate training and research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Dr Tabiri is also the Academic Director of the Girls in Mathematical Sciences Programme, a mentoring and support scheme for girls in high school or secondary school in Ghana.

Aims-Ghana was founded in 2020 to “ensure that we have a pipeline of young girls who will be leaders in mathematical science research and innovation, both in academia and in industry.”

Dr. Tabiri says the number of boys and girls studying math in high school is about the same, but then drops at university level.

This is partly, she says, because female students assume that if they do math, the only job they can do is to teach, because math is still seen as a “boy’s subject” and there are few female role models.

This is something Dr. Tabiri is trying to change.

But his journey to mathematics was not easy.

He grew up in Ashaiman, one of the poorest, most densely populated districts of Tema, an industrial center and port, one hour east of the capital Accra.

Her family home was happy but noisy – she has four sisters – and Dr Tabiri often sought the peace and quiet of the local youth community center where she could study.

She wanted to follow in the footsteps of her two sisters and study business administration at university.

But his grades, although high, were not high enough, so he was accepted for mathematics and economics.

“It was a blessing in disguise,” says Dr. Tabiri. “I was fascinated by numbers and puzzles, but I never thought a career in mathematics was for me.”

In 2015, Dr. Tabiri received a scholarship to pursue a PhD at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. It was hard work, he says, and he experienced an important moment there.

She went to see Hidden Figures, a film about black female mathematicians who worked at NASA, the US space agency, in the 1950s, during the time of US segregation.

“It was amazing to see the story of these black women being told on that world stage,” she recalls. “I saw a lot of goosebumps.”

He was particularly inspired by Katherine Johnson, whose extraordinary mathematical skills and calculations were so crucial to the success of US spaceflight.

“Katherine Johnson worked really hard, and for a long time her work was hidden. She made me realize that I had to move on.

“If your work is not recognized now, it will be recognized in the future. It was a real turning point for me.”

Ghana achieved a historic milestone in 2024 when Dr. Gloria Botchway became the first woman to earn a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Ghana.

It was a journey full of hardships, including selling water and yams on the side of the road as a six-year-old.

Dr. Tabiri is trying to help other African girls and women from less privileged backgrounds to follow their mathematical dreams through her non-profit organization FemAfricMaths.

Along with other volunteers, she teaches lessons to younger high school students in person and online.

She also posts interviews with leading female mathematicians from around the world on social media.

Dr. Tabiri is also extremely passionate about the potential of quantum science and technology, for which mathematics is essential.

It is proud that Ghana, with the support of Mexico, sponsored proposals to designate 2025 as the UN International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, the 100th anniversary of the discovery of modern quantum mechanics.

Quantum mechanics arose from research to discover how ultra-small particles (the most basic parts of matter, energy and light) interact with each other to make up the world.

He developed the Internet, solar cells and global navigation satellite systems.

Researchers and major technology companies around the world – including China, the US, the UK, Australia and South Africa – are racing to develop quantum technologies, including quantum computers and ultra-precise measurement and sensing devices.

The hope is that complex problems will be solved at lightning speed, and there will be major innovations in areas such as medicine, environmental science, food production and cyber security.

“There are a lot of conversations now – the pros and cons – the jobs that will be created,” says Dr. Tabiri.

Africa’s fast-growing population, already the world’s youngest, will be the world’s largest workforce by 2040, according to the UN.

“But that doesn’t mean we will get jobs,” says Dr. Tabiri.

He hopes to organize a “quantum road show” as a first step in introducing quantum science to school children long before he did.

“We want young people to start developing all the skills that are important during elementary school,” he says.

The road show will be based on a recent quantum computing course for secondary school girls attending classes at Aims-Ghana during the holidays.

The course explored what it takes to build a quantum computer, current fragilities, and the challenges quantum computing poses to current systems such as cryptography.

Working with Unesco, Dr. Tabiri will also organize a week-long “Quantum Hackathon” in July at Aims-Ghana for about 40 graduate students from different African countries.

“We want to use their quantum skills to solve some of the biggest challenges we face, real-life problems,” says Dr. Tabiri.

“It is very urgent to position our youth for this next great revolution.”