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.
Did you know? (See the Archive for past announcements)
- Scientists recently named a mesa-like lunar mountain that towers above the landscape carved by craters near the Moon’s South Pole. This unique feature will now be referred to as "Mons Mouton," after NASA mathematician and computer programmer Melba Roy Mouton. To read more about Melba Mouton and her work at NASA, see the NASA Ames Research Center website article.
- Congratulations to Ingrid Daubechies of Duke University for winning the 2023 Wolf Prize in Mathematics "for work in wavelet theory and applied harmonic analysis". The acclaimed Wolf Prize is awarded to outstanding scientists and artists from around the world for "achievements in the interest of humanity and friendly relations among people." The scientific categories of the prize include medicine, agriculture, mathematics, chemistry, and physics. Daubechies is the first woman to receive the prize in the field of mathematics since the prize was first awarded in 1978. For more information, see the Wolf Foundation website.
- Irene Fonseca, the Kavčić-Moura University Professor of Mathematics and director of the Center for Nonlinear Analysis at Carnegie-Mellon University, has received the 2022 International Society for the Interaction of Mechanics and Mathematics Senior Prize. She received the award for her outstanding contributions to the calculus of variations and the mathematics of materials science, along with her exemplary service to the mathematical community and for being an inspirational mentor and role model for female mathematicians. For more information, see the CMU press release.
- Congratulations to Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska, a professor and chair of number theory at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, for being awarded a 2022 Field Medal. She is only the second woman to win a Fields Medal. To read more about Viazovska and her work in mathematics, see the online article from Quanta Magazine.
- The story of Gertrude Blanch and the Mathematical Tables Project is told in a new audio drama called "Add, Subtract, Unite, Divide" that has just been released by the HWMS Audio Theatre. Read about Blanch in this MAA Blog by David Alan Grier.
- MAA AMC Honors Young Women For Top Mathematics Performance. Read the article in the July 2022 MAA Focus online magazine.
- Mathematician-poet Sandra DeLozier Coleman has published with Bohannon Hall Press the book Mathematician with the Soul of a Poet: Poems and Plays of Sofia Kovalevskaya which includes the first English translations of nine poems and two plays written by Sofia Kovalevskaya, along with extensive commentary and biographical analysis.
- Congratulations to the USA European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad team for winning first place among 57 teams in the 2022 competition. Jessica Wan, Isabella Zhu, and Vivian Loh earned gold medals and Kaylee Ji earned a silver medal for their individual performances. This is second time that the USA team has won first place. See the entry below about their appearance on the Curious Cube video blog. For more information, see the MAA Press Release or the article about them in the July 2022 MAA Focus online magazine.
AWM Biographies Contest
To increase awareness of women's ongoing contributions to the mathematical
sciences, the Association for Women in Mathematics sponsors 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. For more information and to see the results of past Essay Contests, go to https://awm-math.org/awards/student-essay-contest/.
Agnes Scott College, founded in 1889, is a private liberal arts college for women in
Decatur, a part of Atlanta, Georgia.
Looking for college scholarships for women? Agnes Scott, a top liberal arts college, offers women generous scholarships based on academic record, academic interests, and ethnic and religious affiliations.
Visit the Agnes Scott College Mathematics
Department website.
https://mathwomen.agnesscott.org/women.htm