Josephat Martin Harvey

Josephat Martin Harvey

Mathematics

Josephat Martin Harvey (Funyana Mutyambizi) was a Zimbabwean mathematician born in Salisbury (now Harare) in 1949. Harvey studied at the University of Zimbabwe from 1969 to 1980, specialising in applied mathematics. From 1978 to 1979, he conducted research in St Andrews. Pioneering greater diversity in academia, Harvey excelled during his time at the University of Zimbabwe, becoming the first black student to be awarded a First-Class Special Honours and the first student to obtain a PhD in mathematics. He eventually became the University’s first black mathematics lecturer and the first black Dean of the Faculty of Science. Harvey died in Zimbabwe in 2011.

BAMEStAndrews,greatthinkers,internationaltour

1949

licb1@st-andrews.ac.uk

Organisation

251

Fanyana Mutyambizi

TEXT

D.O.B: November 12, 1949 in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) D.O.D: February 18, 2011 in Zimbabwe Family origins: • Eldest in a family of 3, brought up by a (single?) mother o Had to look after/cook for his younger siblings while his mother worked long hours to send them to school o Moved around throughout South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe as mother worked different jobs Private life/family life: • Wife: Alda Winny (née Tanyongana) • Has 5 children: Jabulani, Bongani, Marcia, Tulani and Vumani (the latter 2 had passed away by February 2011) • 6 grandchildren • Sister: Lucy Sibongile Mombeshora

Education: • University of Rhodesia– 2-1 BSc (1969-1971), 1-1 Special Honours in Mathematics (1972), PhD (1980) o Teaching assistant (1972-1974) o Lecturer (1975-1985) o Dean of the Faculty of Science (1984-1985) • University of St Andrews – Research Visitor (1978-1979) • University of the Western Cape (South Africa) ¬– Lecturer Profession: • Mathematician • Actuary o At the time, one of the only actuaries of colour in ZImbabwe o Old Mutual o Zimnat o Southampton Assurance Company o Returned to academia with the country’s economic downturn (Professional) Role in St Andrews: • Research Visitor o At the time, pursuing his PhD at the University of Rhodesia Years in St Andrews: 1978-1979 Involved in which fields of scholarship? (e.g. geology, philosophy and medicine) (Applied) Mathematics • Topology with an emphasis on category theory • Actuarial science Most famous contribution(s) to scholarship /inventions/… 1 (i.e. in geology): • First black student to be awarded a First Class Special Honours in Mathematics from the University of Rhodesia • First student to gain a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Rhodesia • First black lecturer appointed to teach mathematics at the University of Rhodesia • First black Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Zimbabwe If you want to read one thing written by him/her, it should be: • J M Harvey, Reflections and factorization, Math. Colloq. Univ. Cape Town 9 (1974), 19-22. • J M Harvey, T0T0-separation in topological categories, in Proceedings of the Second Symposium on Categorical Topology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, 1976, Quaestiones Math. 2 (1-3) (1977/78), 177-190. • J M Harvey, Topological functors from factorization. Categorical topology, in Proceedings International Conference, Free Univ. Berlin, Berlin, 1978 (Lecture Notes in Math., 719, Springer, Berlin, 1979), 102-111. • J M Harvey, A note on topological hom-functors, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 85 (4) (1982), 517-519. • J M Harvey, Categorical characterization of uniform hyperspaces, Math. Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 94 (2) (1983), 229-233. • J M Harvey, Reflective subcategories, Illinois J. Math. 29 (3)(1985), 365-369.

2011

Talents etc.: • Fluent in Shona, Zulu, Ndebele, Chewa, English and French • Artist—oil painter • Played the jazz flute • Poet and writer o Was compiling his written works into a book/publication of some sorts at the time of is death Any political involvement? • Anti-racist/anti-colonial (presumably) Other societies/groups elsewhere? • International Congress of Mathematicians– August 15-28, 1978 Associated places in St Andrews: (e.g. home, lab, favourite spot) • Mathematical Institute (?) Connected to other people in St Andrews or elsewhere?: Other • Dr Gavin Hitchcock o D.Phil supervisor Any eye-witness testimony/stories: • Obituary collection: https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Extras/Harvey_obituaries/ o 1. From Heneri A M Dzinotyiweyi o 2. From Milton Kamwendo: https://www.sundaymail.co.zw/shine-with-mathematical-brilliance