Welcome to the web site for biographies of women in mathematics. These pages are part of an on-going project at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, Georgia, to illustrate the numerous achievements of women in the field of mathematics. Here you can find biographical essays or comments on the women mathematicians profiled on this site, as well as additional resources about women in mathematics. Each time this page is reloaded, a randomly selected photo is displayed to the left (if Javascript is enabled). Click on the image to go to the profile of that woman.
We also welcome contributions of biographical information or essays from those outside Agnes Scott College. If you are interested in contributing an essay, please send your contribution to the email address below. Comments, suggestions, or corrections can also be sent to this address.
- Names in Alphabetical Order
- Names in Chronological Order
- Names by Location of Birth
- Other Resources about Women Mathematicians
- The First Ph.D's in Mathematics by Women before 1930
- Prizes, Awards and Honors for Women Mathematicians
- Birth and Death Anniversaries
- Photo Credits
- Search the site
Did you know?
- The TV show The Simpsons often contains references to mathematics. An upcoming show called Girls Just Want to Have Sums to air (problaby) on Sunday, April 30, 2006, will explore the topic of women in mathematics. See Dr. Sarah Greenwald's SimpsonsMath website at Appalachian State University for more details including a link to an interview with one of the writers for this episode.
- The actress Danica McKellar, perhaps better known as Winnie from The Wonder Years, graduated with highest honors from UCLA with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics, and is the co-author of a mathematical research paper published in the Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General. Her accomplishments in mathematics have been profiled in the New York Times, July 19, 2005 (section F). Listen to her February 11th interview on NRP Weekend Edition in which she discusses this paper. Or visit the mathematics link on her website to read about her interest in mathematics.
- In 1998 Melanie Wood became the first high school girl ever to win a spot on the United States Mathematical Olympiad Team. While a student at Duke University, Melanie was the first American woman, and second woman overall, to win the Putnam competition—a prestigious math competition for college students. Read her interview in Math Horizons, September 2004, or the 2003 Duke University article about her accomplishments in math.
- Alison Crocker, a double major in physics and mathematics at Dartmouth College, and Eliana Hechter, an eighteen-year-old senior mathematics major at the University of Washington, have been chosen as 2006 Rhode Scholars to study at the University of Oxford, England. Alison plans to do a doctorate in astrophysics while Eliana plans to complete a D.Phil. in mathematics. Read the Dartmouth press release about Alison and the article about Eliana from the Seattle Times.
AWM Biographies Contest
To increase awareness of women's ongoing contributions to the mathematical sciences, the Association for Women in Mathematics sponsers an essay contest for biographies of contemporary women mathematicians and statisticians in academic, industrial, and government careers. This contest is open to students in the following categories: Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, and College Undergraduate. At least one winning submission will be chosen from each category. Winners will receive a prize, and their essays will be published online at the AWM website. Additionally, a grand prize winner will have his or her submission published in the AWM Newsletter. The contest deadline was October 24, 2005. For more information and to see the results of the 2005 Essay Contest, go to http://www.awm-math.org/biographies/contest.html.
Women in Mathematics: the Legacy of Ladyzhenskaya and Oleinik
This AWM/MSRI workshop to celebrate the careers of Olga Ladyzhenskaya and Olga Oleinik will be held May 18-20, 2006, in Berkeley, California. Further information can be found at the AWM website.
Honors and awards for this website
Agnes Scott College, founded in 1889, is a private liberal arts college for women in Decatur, GA, a suburb of Atlanta. For more information about the college, visit the college's home page.
![[To ASC]](ASCminilogo.gif)
![[to Math Dept]](mathdept2.gif)
Agnes Scott College Mathematics
Department
Number of visitors to this page since January 1, 1996 is
http://www.AgnesScott.edu/lriddle/women/women.htm