Image credit: Konrad Jacobs, Erlangen, Copyright is MFO [CC BY-SA 2.0 de], via Wikimedia Commons
- Earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Illinois in 1941 at the age of 22.
- Served on the faculty at Howard University until 1954, when he accepted a position at UC Berkeley, where he became the institution's first African American tenured professor.
- Published over 80 articles in the field of mathematics, and gaged theorems that bear his name, including the Blackwell renewal theorem, and the Rao-Blackwell theorem.
- Worked extensively in the field of game theory, applying it to military situations
- The first African American to be named to the American Academy of Sciences
- In 2002 Berkley and Cornell Universities established the Blackwell-Tapia Award to recognize those who have inspired and achieved great things in the area of mathematical sciences.
