Her mother was active in the Catholic Church, which was a trait that would carry on to Haynes until her death in 1980. Martha Euphemia Lofton Haynes was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics. Lofton was born into a socially prominent African American family. Her father William S. Lofton was a dentist and investor, and her mother was Lavinia Day Lofton. Her dissertation, Determination of Sets of Independent Conditions Characterizing Certain Special Cases of Symmetric Correspondence was advised by Aubrey Landry, a professor at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Haynes was born to parents Dr. William Lofton and Mrs. Lavina Day … Dr. Euphemia Lofton Haynes, 90, a former D.C. board of education president and member and a Washington educator for nearly 50 years, died Thursday at the Washington Hospital Center. Martha Euphemia Lofton Haynes was an American mathematician and educator. Her father, William, was a dentist, and her mother, Lavinia, was a kindergarten Euphemia Haynes devoted her life to education in the Washington, D.C. area for forty-seven years, including teaching mathematics at Armstrong High School and Dunbar High School. She was the first African-American woman to earn a PhD in mathematics, which she earned from the Catholic University of America in 1943. Biography Euphemia Lofton was the daughter of William S Lofton (2 March 1862 - 1 March 1919), a dentist and financier originally from Batesville, Arkansas, and Lavinia Dey who before her marriage was a kindergarten teacher.Lavinia was an active member of the Roman Catholic Church. The first African-American woman toobtaina doctorate in Mathematics, Euphemia Lofton Hayneswas born in Washington D.C. She grew up in Wash-ington, DC, earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Smith College in 1914, Quick Facts Name Euphemia Lofton Haynes Birth Date September 11, 1890 Death Date July 25, 1980 Did You Know? Born Martha Euphemia Lofton on September 11, 1890, in Washington, D.C., her father was a prominent black dentist known for backing African-American businesses in the D.C. area. Euphemia Lofton Haynes: Bringing Education Closer to the “Goal of Perfection” Susan E. Kelly, Carly Shinners, Katherine Zoroufy Martha Euphemia Lof-ton Haynes was the first African American woman to receive a PhD in mathematics. She had been hospitalized since suffering a stroke July 25. Euphemia Lofton Haynes, American educator and mathematician who was the first African American woman to receive a doctoral degree in mathematics. We note that Euphemia only became Euphemia Lofton Haynes after her marriage to Harold Appo Haynes in 1917 … Dr. Haynes served …