Talitha Washington

Talitha Washington, Ph.D., a distinguished mathematician, serves as the Executive Director of the Center for Applied Data Science & Analytics (CADSA) at Howard University. She holds the Sean McCleese Endowed Chair, is a Professor of Mathematics, and is the co-Chair of the President’s AI Advisory Council, which guides the university’s AI strategy across research, academic, and enterprise initiatives.

Dr. Washington serves as Principal Investigator of the U.S. National Science Foundation–funded Research Coordination Network on Assessing and Predicting Job Outcomes in AI, a national initiative focused on building a coordinated understanding of AI jobs, skills, and credentials to strengthen the nation’s AI workforce ecosystem. She also serves as the Past-President of the Association for Women in Mathematics. Her research spans applied mathematics, dynamical systems, data science, artificial intelligence, and STEM education.

After graduating early from Benjamin Bosse High School, she studied abroad in Juan Viñas, Costa Rica. She then earned her undergraduate degree in mathematics from Spelman College, which included a semester abroad at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in Mexico. She later completed her master’s and doctoral degrees in mathematics at the University of Connecticut, which recently awarded her an honorary Doctorate of Science. She is a Fellow of the African Scientific Institute (ASI), the American Mathematical Society (AMS), the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).