Native American Lovers

In May 2021, Dr. Dóminique Kemp completed his doctorate in mathematics at Indiana University — becoming the first Black person in the program's history to do so. He did this while navigating what many Black students in elite STEM doctoral programs describe as one of the more isolating dimensions of the experience: being the only Black student in the program, without peers who share your background navigating the same environment alongside you.Mathematics at the doctoral level is a field defined by abstraction, sustained intellectual difficulty, and a culture that has historically been resistant to examining its own demographic patterns and the barriers embedded within them. The pipeline of Black mathematicians at the PhD level remains narrow — not because of any deficit in mathematical talent or interest in Black communities, but because of the accumulated weight of under-resourced K-12 mathematics education, the absence of mentorship from Black mathematicians in many academic settings, and the specific psychological tax of being the only person who looks like you in rooms where you are supposed to feel intellectually at home.Dr. Kemp completed that journey. After Indiana University, he continued with postdoctoral appointments at Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study — two of the most prestigious mathematics research institutions in the world.He has also used the platform his achievement created to advocate for diversity in STEM — working to change the conditions that made him a first rather than one of many.First Black PhD in mathematics from Indiana University. Postdoctoral work at Princeton and the Institute for Advanced Study. Dr. Kemp changed the record and then kept going.