2002 AWM Essay Contest:
1st Place in College Category
Dr. Fern Hunt: Mastering Chaos in Theory and in Life
By Alicia Richardson
The National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg,
Maryland, employs over 3,300 employees. These employees conduct
research on the structure and implementation of complex materials and
develop high precision techniques for the standards and measurement
associated with these studies. Among these employees there are about
39 full-time mathematicians, computer scientists, and physicists, who
ensure that sound mathematical methods are applied to NIST problems. One area of Dr. Hunt's research has been computer graphic rendering.
Rendering is the process of producing an artificial image using a
computer. During the interview, she pointed out that people are very
good at being able to detect gloss or sheen on an automobile, and that
is the thing that sells automobiles. For instance, a person probably
would not buy a new car if it was dull in appearance. Dr. Hunt was
part of a group that measured and described the properties of visually
attractive surfaces using their light scattering properties. One
means of quantifying the reflection properties of a surface is by use
of the bi-directional reflection distribution function, which defines
the spectral and spatial reflection characteristics of a surface. The
function is the ratio of reflected radiance to incident irradiance at
a particular wavelength. Dr. Hunt supervised a group that took data
from from measurements of this function for a surface. This data is
then used to create an integral equation whose solution provides
an artificial image of the surface. Currently, Dr. Hunt is doing work in bioinformatics. This is a
relatively new area of computational biology used for finding out
information about genes. The Human Genome Sequence Project is an
attempt to determine exactly the correct sequence of all of the human
DNA sequences. These are made up of amino acids A (Adenine), C
(Cytosine), T (Thymine), and G (Guanine). She also pointed out during
the interview that "people feel that once they know what the genes are
in DNA, that would give them a big step in understanding and curing
disease(s)." For example, during our discussion I learned that it
might be possible to cure sickle cell anemia by correcting the gene
that causes the red blood cell to sickle. Dr. Hunt and other
scientists have developed a method of using sequence statistics to
build a Markov decision model that is being used to solve a particular
linear programming problem related to the alignment of sequences of
DNA. Dr. Fern Hunt grew up in the Amsterdam Housing Projects in Manhattan
around the 1950s and 60s. She became interested in science when she
received a chemistry set for Christmas at nine years of age. As a
result of this, she figured there was a plethora of excitement out
there in the world and in nature. She was an ordinary student with
few friends. She gives credit to Mr. Charles Wilson, a black junior
high science teacher, for her success. She recalls that he had "a
huge lab" and told her to maintain interest in science and take the
examination that eventually got her into the Bronx High School of
Science in New York. She earned a Bachelors Degree in mathematics at Bryn Mawr College, and
received her Master and Doctorate Degrees from the prestigious New
York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. She has
taught at Howard University, the University of Utah, and City College
of New York. What she enjoys about teaching is trying to explain and
convey the beauty of difficult mathematical concepts. Additionally,
she enjoys talking with students and hearing their ideas and new
insights. In comparing teaching and research, she agrees that teaching and
research are different in that teaching deals with understanding and
explaining knowledge that has already been discovered; while with
research you are trying to discover the unknown. However, both are
similar in that we can apply new techniques to known concepts and
theories. Dr. Fern Hunt currently has 23 publications. In 2000, she was awarded
the Arthur S. Fleming Award for Outstanding Federal Service. She was
recognized for fundamental contributions to probability and stochastic
modeling, mathematical biology, computational geometry, nonlinear
dynamics, computer graphics, and parallel computing. She explains
that she was "set-up" secretly and was extremely surprised to receive
the award. She is happy to have achieved something that others
consider valuable. This is obvious in her response, "I didn't
expect to get much acknowledgement, so I was very pleased." Dr. Hunt is a very spiritual woman. Spirituality has played a crucial
role in the development of this accomplished black, female
mathematician. "I think that I am different than the majority of
scientists, because I am here because of the sacrifice of other black
people. I am aware of that and immensely grateful. I am a small part
of a larger movement to restore what was taken from us. As a woman,
I feel much the same way. I feel that I am a part of that struggle as
well. I'm hoping that women and men will advance the rights of all
people and restore their birthright as human beings. As children of
God, we have certain inalienable rights, and we need to struggle to
achieve those. So I don't see myself as a successful individual
only.¨ Outside of the research arena, Dr. Fern Hunt finds time as a
singer and pianist. She is an assistant organist at her church and
sings in the choir. Among her many pleasures, she loves swimming,
particularly at the beach, visiting the theatre, reading historical
books, bike riding, cooking, and serving on the Board of Trustees at
her college. The advice Dr. Hunt gives to college students, like myself, is "begin
to reach out and learn about the rest of the universe. Try learning
about how the world is outside the United States in terms of poverty.
Remember to keep a broad view of things and be in service to others
and the world itself. Also try to look beyond day to day difficulty
and look at maximizing opportunities here and now. This is what keeps
me going." Her words are very inspirational and convey one major
concept to me. Do not always worry about your own difficulties and
struggles in life, because there are many others throughout the world
who are less fortunate. Instead, we must be grateful and try to keep
an open mind and help others. I believe that many black, female
students can also find inspiration and encouragement through Dr. Hunt
as a researcher and as an individual. As an individual, Dr. Fern Hunt
overcame the chaotic challenges of life as a black female. As a
research mathematician, she mastered the concept of chaos theory,
which today is inspiring other young mathematicians to excel for
greatness. About the author:
My name is Alicia Richardson. I am originally from Ypsilanti,
Michigan, but currently I am a junior, mathematics major at Morgan
State University in Baltimore, Maryland. I have always had a love for
mathematics and have an interest in cryptography or in teaching.
After earning my Bachelors degree in mathematics, I plan to go to
graduate school to earn a Doctorate of Philosophy in mathematics. In
my spare time, I read and play music. At Morgan, I participate in the
marching band, the MARC U*STAR Program (Minority Access to Research
Careers Undergraduate* Scholars Training in Academic Research), Sigma
Alpha Iota Music Fraternity for Women, and Iota Sweetheart Auxiliary.
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