Names of Mathematicians as group names

I use group work for assessment in both my modules. For the second year I’m using blackboard’s group system to facilitate the creation of the groups. It allows you to create names for the groups, and this year I decided to try and do something different than “Group 1”, “Group 2”, “Group 3”.

I used names of Mathematicians that are perhaps as not well known as most.

Here’s the list:

  1. Hypatia (350–415 CE, Egypt) – First known female mathematician, contributed to geometry and algebra.
  2. Brahmagupta (598–668 CE, India) – Early work on zero and negative numbers.
  3. Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (c. 780–850 CE, Persia) – Father of algebra; introduced algorithms.
  4. Madhava of Sangamagrama (c. 1340–1425, India) – Founder of the Kerala School; early work on calculus.
  5. Omar Khayyam (1048–1131 CE, Persia) – Solutions to cubic equations and a poet.
  6. Thābit ibn Qurra (826–901 CE, Iraq) – Contributed to number theory and geometry.
  7. Liu Hui (c. 225–295 CE, China) – Contributions to geometry and approximation of π.
  8. Al-Samawal al-Maghribi (c. 1130–1180 CE, Morocco) – Work on algebra and polynomials.
  9. Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718–1799, Italy) – Wrote one of the first comprehensive calculus textbooks.
  10. Émilie du Châtelet (1706–1749, France) – Advanced Newton’s work and translated his “Principia.”
  11. Benjamin Banneker (1731–1806, USA) – African-American mathematician, astronomer, and surveyor.
  12. Sophie Germain (1776–1831, France) – Work on elasticity theory and Fermat’s Last Theorem.
  13. Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855, Germany) – Wide contributions, including number theory and statistics.
  14. José Mariano Mociño (1757–1820, Mexico) – Contributions to botany and mathematics.
  15. Sacrobosco (13th century, England) – Work on spherical geometry.
  16. Ada Lovelace (1815–1852, UK) – First computer programmer; work on algorithms for the Analytical Engine.
  17. Mary Somerville (1780–1872, UK) – Popularized Laplace’s work and wrote on astronomy and mathematics.
  18. Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850–1891, Russia) – First woman to earn a PhD in mathematics; work on partial differential equations.
  19. J.J. Sylvester (1814–1897, UK) – Work on matrix theory and algebra.
  20. Charles Loring Brace (1826–1890, USA) – Advocated for algebraic research in education.
  21. Florence Nightingale (1820–1910, UK) – Pioneer of statistical graphics in public health.
  22. Évariste Galois (1811–1832, France) – Laid the groundwork for group theory.
  23. Emmy Noether (1882–1935, Germany) – Groundbreaking work in abstract algebra and physics.
  24. Mary Cartwright (1900–1998, UK) – Work on chaos theory and differential equations.
  25. Marjorie Lee Browne (1914–1979, USA) – African-American mathematician; advanced mathematics education.
  26. Julia Robinson (1919–1985, USA) – Work on Hilbert’s 10th problem.
  27. Euphemia Haynes (1890–1980, USA) – First African-American woman to earn a PhD in math.
  28. Olga Taussky-Todd (1906–1995, Austria) – Matrix theory and algebra.
  29. David Blackwell (1919–2010, USA) – African-American statistician; contributions to game theory.
  30. Katherine Johnson (1918–2020, USA) – NASA mathematician; essential calculations for spaceflight.
  31. Abdulalim A. Shabazz (1927–2014, USA) – Advocated for mathematics education in African-American communities.
  32. Elbert Frank Cox (1895–1969, USA) – First African-American to earn a PhD in mathematics.
  33. S. S. Pillai (1901–1950, India) – Contributions to number theory.
  34. Chike Obi (1921–2008, Nigeria) – Pioneer in modern Nigerian mathematics.
  35. C. R. Rao (1920–2023, India) – Contributions to statistics and information theory.
  36. Ingrid Daubechies (b. 1954, Belgium) – Wavelets and image compression.
  37. Maryam Mirzakhani (1977–2017, Iran) – First woman to win the Fields Medal.
  38. Ruth Gonzalez (b. 20th century, USA) – First Latina to earn a PhD in math.
  39. Fan Chung (b. 1949, Taiwan/USA) – Graph theory and combinatorics.
  40. Nalini Joshi (b. 1959, Australia) – Work on nonlinear differential equations.
  41. Terence Tao (b. 1975, Australia/USA) – “The Mozart of Math”; work in many fields of mathematics.
  42. Ken Ono (b. 1968, Japan/USA) – Number theory and Ramanujan’s work.
  43. Jonathan Farley (b. 1970, USA) – Lattice theory and social justice in math.
  44. Mangala Narlikar (b. 1948, India) – Work in astronomy and math.
  45. Ramanujan (1887–1920, India) – Self-taught genius; contributions to number theory.
  46. George Polya (1887–1985, Hungary) – Mathematical problem-solving techniques.
  47. Alice T. Schafer (1915–2009, USA) – Advocate for women in mathematics.
  48. Shakuntala Devi (1929–2013, India) – Mental calculation prodigy.
  49. Alena Buyx (21st century, Germany) – Applied ethics and mathematical modeling.
  50. Ali Nesin (b. 1956, Turkey) – Founder of math villages to teach young talent.
  51. John Mighton (b. 1957, Canada) – Advocate for math accessibility.
  52. Alan Turing (1912–1954, UK) – Foundations of computer science and cryptography.
  53. Sophie Morel (b. 1979, France) – Young leader in arithmetic geometry.
  54. Bertrand Russell (1872–1970, UK) – Foundations of logic and set theory.
  55. Henri Poincaré (1854–1912, France) – Dynamical systems and topology.
  56. Zaha Hadid (1950–2016, Iraq/UK) – Architecture with heavy mathematical influence.
  57. Norbert Wiener (1894–1964, USA) – Founder of cybernetics.
  58. Grace Hopper (1906–1992, USA) – Pioneer of computer programming.
  59. Evelyn Boyd Granville (1924–2023, USA) – African-American trailblazer in computer science.
  60. Takakazu Seki (1642–1708, Japan) – Developed Japanese calculus (wasan).
  61. Ivo Babuška (b. 1926, Czechia) – Numerical methods and engineering.
  62. Persi Diaconis (b. 1945, USA) – Mathematics of randomness.
  63. Melanie Wood (b. 1981, USA) – Work on arithmetic statistics.
  64. Cathy O’Neil (b. 1972, USA) – Author of Weapons of Math Destruction.

When using blackboard, you can upload the list of names to create the groups directly. Here is one version of the formatted names that works:

"Group Code","Title","Description","Group Set","Self Enroll"
Brahmagupta,Brahmagupta,,Group Work,Y
Hypatia,Hypatia,,Group Work,Y
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, , New_gc_Group_gc_Set_gc_27, Y
Madhava of Sangamagrama, Madhava of Sangamagrama, ,Group Work,Y
Omar Khayyam, Omar Khayyam, ,Group Work,Y
Thābit ibn Qurra, Thābit ibn Qurra, ,Group Work,Y
Liu Hui, Liu Hui, ,Group Work,Y
Al-Samawal al-Maghribi, Al-Samawal al-Maghribi, ,Group Work,Y
Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Maria Gaetana Agnesi, ,Group Work,Y
Émilie du Châtelet, Émilie du Châtelet, ,Group Work,Y
Benjamin Banneker, Benjamin Banneker, ,Group Work,Y
Sophie Germain, Sophie Germain, ,Group Work,Y
José Mariano Mociño, José Mariano Mociño, ,Group Work,Y
Sacrobosco, Sacrobosco, ,Group Work,Y
Ada Lovelace, Ada Lovelace, ,Group Work,Y
Mary Somerville, Mary Somerville, ,Group Work,Y
Sofia Kovalevskaya, Sofia Kovalevskaya, ,Group Work,Y
J.J. Sylvester, J.J. Sylvester, ,Group Work,Y
Charles Loring Brace, Charles Loring Brace, ,Group Work,Y
Florence Nightingale, Florence Nightingale, ,Group Work,Y
Évariste Galois, Évariste Galois, ,Group Work,Y
Emmy Noether, Emmy Noether, ,Group Work,Y
Mary Cartwright, Mary Cartwright, ,Group Work,Y
Marjorie Lee Browne, Marjorie Lee Browne, ,Group Work,Y
Julia Robinson, Julia Robinson, ,Group Work,Y
Euphemia Haynes, Euphemia Haynes, ,Group Work,Y
Olga Taussky-Todd, Olga Taussky-Todd, ,Group Work,Y
David Blackwell, David Blackwell, ,Group Work,Y
Katherine Johnson, Katherine Johnson, ,Group Work,Y
Abdulalim A. Shabazz, Abdulalim A. Shabazz, ,Group Work,Y
Elbert Frank Cox, Elbert Frank Cox, ,Group Work,Y
S. S. Pillai, S. S. Pillai, ,Group Work,Y
Chike Obi, Chike Obi, ,Group Work,Y
C. R. Rao, C. R. Rao, ,Group Work,Y
Ingrid Daubechies, Ingrid Daubechies, ,Group Work,Y
Maryam Mirzakhani, Maryam Mirzakhani, ,Group Work,Y
Ruth Gonzalez, Ruth Gonzalez, ,Group Work,Y
Fan Chung, Fan Chung, ,Group Work,Y
Nalini Joshi, Nalini Joshi, ,Group Work,Y
Terence Tao, Terence Tao, ,Group Work,Y
Ken Ono, Ken Ono, ,Group Work,Y
Jonathan Farley, Jonathan Farley, ,Group Work,Y
Mangala Narlikar, Mangala Narlikar, ,Group Work,Y
Ramanujan, Ramanujan, ,Group Work,Y
George Polya, George Polya, ,Group Work,Y
Alice T. Schafer, Alice T. Schafer, ,Group Work,Y
Shakuntala Devi, Shakuntala Devi, ,Group Work,Y
Alena Buyx, Alena Buyx, ,Group Work,Y
Ali Nesin, Ali Nesin, ,Group Work,Y
John Mighton, John Mighton, ,Group Work,Y
Alan Turing, Alan Turing, ,Group Work,Y
Sophie Morel, Sophie Morel, ,Group Work,Y
Bertrand Russell, Bertrand Russell, ,Group Work,Y
Henri Poincaré, Henri Poincaré, ,Group Work,Y
Zaha Hadid, Zaha Hadid, ,Group Work,Y
Norbert Wiener, Norbert Wiener, ,Group Work,Y
Grace Hopper, Grace Hopper, ,Group Work,Y
Evelyn Boyd Granville, Evelyn Boyd Granville, ,Group Work,Y
Takakazu Seki, Takakazu Seki, ,Group Work,Y
Ivo Babuška, Ivo Babuška, ,Group Work,Y
Persi Diaconis, Persi Diaconis, ,Group Work,Y
Melanie Wood, Melanie Wood, ,Group Work,Y
Cathy O’Neil, Cathy O’Neil, ,Group Work,Y