Biographies of Women Mathematicians
An on-going project at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, Georgia, to illustrate the numerous achievements of women in the field of mathematics. Created by Larry Riddle, Department of Mathematics
1706-12-17 00:00:00
Emilie du Châtelet
French mathematician, physicist, and author
1718-05-16 00:00:00
Maria Gaetana Agnesi
Wrote first book discussing both differential and integral calculus
1750-03-16 00:00:00
Caroline Herschel
A prominent observational astronomer
1776-04-01 00:00:00
Sophie Germain
Worked on number theory and Fermat's Last Theorem
1780-12-26 00:00:00
Mary Fairfax Somerville
A Scottish science writer, mathematician and astronomer
1815-12-10 00:00:00
Ada Byron, Lady Lovelace
Often described as the world's first computer programmer
1820-05-12 00:00:00
Florence Nightingale
A pioneer in the use of descriptive statistics
1832-04-01 00:00:00
Mary Everest Boole
Self-taught mathematician and progressive educator
1842-03-23 00:00:00
Susan Jane Cunningham
Contributed to the development of math dept at Swarthmore College
1847-12-01 00:00:00
Christine Ladd-Franklin
Worked in the area of symbolic logic and color vision
1850-01-15 00:00:00
Sonya Kovalevskaya
First woman to be awarded a doctorate degree in mathematics
1851-09-23 00:00:00
Ellen Amanda Hayes
Math professor at Wellesley College and an ardent Socialist
1857-08-26 00:00:00
Ida Martha Metcalf
Second American woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics
1858-06-08 00:00:00
Charlotte Angas Scott
FIrst English woman to obtain a doctorate in mathematics
1858-08-10 00:00:00
Anna Haywood Cooper
Author, educator, and prominent African-American scholar
1862-09-24 00:00:00
Winifred Edgerton Merrill
FIrst American woman to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics
1868-03-15 00:00:00
Grace Chisholm Young
The first woman to officially receive a math Ph.D. in Germany
1869-08-07 00:00:00
Mary Frances Winston Newson
First US woman to receive a math Ph.D. from a European university
1873-11-25 00:00:00
Anna Irwin Young
Beloved math professor at Agnes Scott College
1881-02-01 00:00:00
Mayme Logsdon
First faculty math professor at the University of Chicago
1882-03-23 00:00:00
Emmy Noether
One of the greatest algebraists of the 20th century
1883-02-10 00:00:00
Edith Clarke
First woman elected to the Amer. Inst. of Electrical Engineers
1883-05-05 00:00:00
Anna Johnson Pell Wheeler
First woman to give the Colloquium Lectures at the AMS meetings
1889-07-24 00:00:00
Agnes Meyer Driscoll
The first lady of naval cryptology
1890-09-11 00:00:00
Euphemia Lofton Haynes
First African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics
1893-09-28 00:00:00
Hilda Geiringer von Mises
A pioneering applied mathematician
1894-04-09 00:00:00
Cecilia Krieger
First woman to earn a math Ph.D. from a Canadian University
1897-02-02 00:00:00
Gertrude Blanch
A pioneer in numerical analysis and computation
1900-01-13 00:00:00
Gertrude Mary Cox
A leader in the promotion of modern statistical methods
1900-12-17 00:00:00
Mary Lucy Cartwright
One of the early founders of chaos theory
1902-08-02 00:00:00
Mina Rees
Headed the math department of the Office of Naval Research
1904-09-27 00:00:00
Sophie Piccard
First woman named a full professor in a Swiss university
1906-08-30 00:00:00
Olga Taussky-Todd
Influential in the fields of matrix theory and number theory
1906-11-06 00:00:00
Emma Trotskaia Lehmer
Helped develop experimental and computational number theory
1906-12-09 00:00:00
Grace Hopper
A pioneer in the field of computer science
1908-08-09 00:00:00
Mary G. Ross
First Native American female engineer
1909-08-23 00:00:00
Florence Nightingale David
Made important contributions to mathematical theory of statistics
1912-10-01 00:00:00
Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw
British mathematician and politician
1914-04-11 00:00:00
Dorothy Lewis Bernstein
First woman to be President of the Mathematical Assoc. of America
1914-09-09 00:00:00
Marjorie Lee Browne
One of 2 African-American women to receive a Ph.D. in math in1949
1915-06-18 00:00:00
Alice Turner Schafer
One of the founders of the Assoc. for Women in Mathematics
1917-05-01 00:00:00
Jessie MacWilliams
Pioneer in the mathematics of coding theory
1919-12-08 00:00:00
Julia Bowman Robinson
First woman to be president of the American Math Society
1921-07-01 00:00:00
Deboarh Tepper Haimo
Strong supporter for increasing number of women in mathematics
1923-05-05 00:00:00
Cathleen Morawetz
First woman to receive a National Medal of Science in math
1924-05-01 00:00:00
Evelyn Boyd Granville
One of 2 African-American women to receive a Ph.D. in math ni 1949
1924-12-07 00:00:00
Mary Ellen Rudin
One of the leading topologists of the 20th century
1927-05-21 00:00:00
Lida Barrett
Mathematician with an extensive record of service to mathematics
1932-12-16 00:00:00
Grace Alele Williams
First Nigerian woman to receive a PhD in mathematics
1934-08-13 00:00:00
Lesley Sibner
One of the initial Fellows of the American Math Society