Mary Lister McCammon (23 August 1927 – 11 April 2008)[2] was a British mathematician and professor at Pennsylvania State University. She was the first woman to complete a doctoral degree in mathematics at Imperial College London, which she did in 1953.[1]
Mary Lister McCammon | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mary Lister August 23, 1927 |
| Died | April 11, 2008 (aged 80) |
| Alma mater | University of London (BSc, MSc) Imperial College London (PhD) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Pennsylvania State University Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Thesis | The relaxation method applied to the solution of problems of viscous flow (1953) |
| Doctoral advisor | D. N. de G. Allen[1] |
Early life and education
editMcCammon studied mathematics at the University of London, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1949 and a master's in 1950.[3] She was the first woman to earn a PhD in mathematics at Imperial College London[4] gaining her doctorate in 1953[1] for her work on mathematical models of viscous flow supervised by D. N. de G. Allen.[1][4][5]
Career and research
editShe joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology for postdoctoral research.[3] McCammon joined Pennsylvania State University in 1954.[3] She introduced classes in numerical analysis, calculus and computer programming.[6] She served as director for undergraduate studies twice, first between 1963 and 1975, and again from 1988 to 1998.[3] McCammon was promoted to Professor in 1992.[3] She created the first mathematics placement test, which were given to all freshmen.[7][8]
Awards and honours
edit- 1982 Christian Mary Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching[9]
- 1984 Teresa Cohen Service Award[10]
- 1991 Eberly College of Science Distinguished Service Award[11]
- 1998 C.I. Knoll Award for Excellence in Teaching[7][12]
In 2000, Pennsylvania State University announced the Mary Lister McCammon Award, a scholarship for undergraduate studies, as well as the McCammon Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching named in her honour.[13][14] In 2019, Imperial College London announced the Mary Lister McCammon Summer Research Fellowship for undergraduate women mathematicians.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Lister, Mary (1953). The relaxation method applied to the solution of problems of viscous flow. imperial.ac.uk (PhD thesis). Imperial College London. hdl:10044/1/12362. OCLC 1006072068. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.587179.
- ^ "Faculty and Staff News of Record: Obituaries May 8, 2008". Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- ^ a b c d e S H K (1999). "Mathematics Professor is Recognized by the Mathematical Association of America". science.psu.edu. Eberly College of Science. Archived from the original on 3 November 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ^ a b c Anon (2019). "The Mary Lister McCammon Summer Research Fellowship: for women in mathematics and statistics". imperial.ac.uk. Imperial College London. Archived from the original on 10 March 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ^ Mary McCammon at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
- ^ "NSF Award Search: Award#8813779 - Revitalization of Calculus". nsf.gov. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ^ a b "McCammon Receives C.I. Noll Award for Teaching". science.psu.edu. Eberly College of Science. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ^ "Newsletter of the MAA" (PDF). maa.org. Mathematical Association of America. 1989. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ^ "Milton S. Eisenhower Award (Lindback Award from 1958 to 1991)". Schreyer Institute. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
- ^ "Teresa Cohen Mathematical Service Award". math.psu.edu. Department of Mathematics. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ^ "Eberly College of Science Distinguished Service Award". Eberly College of Science. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
- ^ "Former Winners of the C. I. Noll Award for Excellence in Teaching — Eberly College of Science". science.psu.edu. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ^ "Mary Lister McCammon Award". math.psu.edu. Department of Mathematics. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ^ "Personal Photos - James A. Sellers". personal.psu.edu. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
