October 19, 1939 -
Doris Schattschneider was born on Staten Island, New York, the daughter of a high school teacher and a mechanical engineer. After receiving encouragement from her high school mathematics teacher, she earned an A.B. degree in mathematics from the University of Rochester. She received her Ph.D. in 1966 from Yale University with a dissertation on "Restricted Roots of a Semi-Simple Algebraic Group" [Abstract].
Schattschneider taught at Moravian College for thirty-four years, starting in 1968, and is now Professor Emerita of Mathematics. Combining her dual interests in mathematics and art, she has become internationally known for her work with tesselations of the plane and her exposition of M. C. Escher's art. In 1990 she published Visions of Symmetry, an exploration of Escher's symmetrical drawings. She was Geometer and Senior Associate on the NSF-funded Visual Geometry Project that produced the software The Geometer's Sketchpad. She is the author of more than 40 articles, and author or coauthor of 4 books and 3 activity books.
Schattschneider was the first woman Editor of Mathematics Magazine (1981-1985) and the first woman to deliver Pi Mu Epsilon's J. Sutherland Frame Lecture (1988). She has served as a first vice president of the Mathematical Association of America. In 1991 she received the MAA's certificate of meritorious service, and in 1993 the MAA Award for Distinguished Teaching of College or University Mathematics.