African-American mother of 7, 32 y.o Alena Maze Lee becomes the first woman in the world to earn a Ph.D. in Survey Methodology

Alena Maze Lee has become one of the first people to obtain a Ph.D. in the field of Survey Methodology! 

Not just in the United States, but in the whole world! (According to her).

In a lengthy Instagram post, Alena shared the good news. 

“I successfully passed my Ph.D. dissertation defense! I’m the first African American person in history to receive a Ph.D. in the field of Survey Methodology. Not just in the USA but [in] the entire world. That also means I’m currently the only Black person to hold a Ph.D. in this degree,” Alena wrote. 

“My dream was to inspire other Black girls and women to achieve the highest education they could in their field. To reach higher. Never did I think my love of Math and Health would lead me to be a ‘first’ in Black History.” 

Alena continued explaining how long the journey took her to receive the degree after spending 5-6 years doing tax research. She didn’t give up as she detailed spending the last 3 months stuck up in her office space, focusing on finishing her variance derivations and estimations.

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A post shared by Alena Maze | MAZELEE (@as.maze)

Alena's husband, Joe Lee is Korean and between them, they have 7 children!