Indigenous Mathematicians: Edward Doolittle

Dr. Edward Doolittle is Kanyenkehake (Flint Nation = Mohawk) from Six Nations in southern Ontario. He earned his PhD in pure mathematics (partial differential equations) from the University of Toronto in 1997. In 2000-2001 he was a member of Onkwewenna Kentsyohkwa (Our Language Group) studying the Mohawk language full time in immersion in his home community. In 2001, he joined the faculty of First Nations University of Canada, a federated college of the University of Regina, where he is now Associate Professor of Mathematics.

Dr. Doolittle is interested in probability, particularly in relation to partial differential operators. He is also interested in Indigenous mathematics and related concepts like Indigenizing mathematics, traditional mathematics, and ethnomathematics, and the educational possibilities afforded by those different views of mathematics. He is the recipient of a Governor General’s Academic Medal (Gold) and an Honorable Mention in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition.