Gloria Conyers Hewitt
| Gloria Conyers Hewitt | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 26, 1935 Sumter, South Carolina |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | mathematician |
| Employer | University of Montana |
Gloria Conyers Hewitt (born 1935) is an African-American mathematician. She was the third African-American woman to receive a PhD in Mathematics.[1] Her main research interests were in Group Theory and Abstract Algebra.
Early life and education
Hewitt was born on October 26, 1935 in Sumter, South Carolina.[2] She entered Fisk University in 1952 and graduated in 1956 with a degree in secondary mathematics education. The department chairman, Lee Lorch, who Hewitt worked under for two years, recommended Hewitt to two schools, without her knowledge. Therefore, in her senior year, Hewitt was offered a fellowship from the University of Washington without applying for it.[3] She received her Ph.D. in mathematics in 1962 from the University of Washington, with a thesis on "Direct and Inverse Limits of Abstract Algebras" (completing her masters in 1960).[1] [3]
Career
In 1961, Hewitt joined the faculty at the University of Montana.[3] In 1966 she became tenured and promoted to associate professor, then in 1972, to full professor.[4] In 1995, she was elected chair of the Department of Mathematical Science.[1] She served in that position until she retired in June 1999.[4]
While a professor at the University of Montana she participated in multiple other organizations. She served on the executive council of the mathematical honor society, Pi Mu Epsilon.[4] She served on the chair of the committee that writes questions for the mathematics section of the GREs.[4] Hewitt was also a faculty consultant for the Advanced Placement examination in calculus.[4] In 1995, she was awarded an ETS Certificate of Appreciation after twelve years of service.[4]
She was known for many mathematics reason but most of all for being one of the first three black women to get a mathematics award.
Hewitt's works focus on two mathematic areas: abstract algebra and group theory.[4] She has eight published research papers and twenty-one unpublished lectures.[4]
One would expect Hewitt to have to face many racial and gender oriented obstacles; however, in a personal interview she stated that she did not feel there had been any racial incidences in her career that had a detrimental effect on her studies.[3] She did however, write and article in the Annals of the New York Academy of Science, titled "The Status of Women in Mathematics". [5]
Awards
She was awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation postdoctoral Science Faculty Fellowship. She was elected to the board of governors of the Mathematical Association of America.[1]
Selected publications
- Gloria Conyers Hewitt and Francis T. Hannick, "Characterizations of generalized Noetherian rings," Acta Math. Hungar. 53 (1989), 61–73. 16A90 (16A33, 16A52)
- Gloria Conyers Hewitt, "A one model approach to group theory," Report, University of Montana. (1978)
- Gloria Conyers Hewitt, "Emmy Noether’s notions of finiteness conditions—revisited," Report, University of Montana. (1979)
- Gloria Conyers Hewitt, "Limits in certain classes of abstract algebras," Pacific J. Math. 22 (1967), 109–115. 08.10
- Gloria Conyers Hewitt, "On ℵ-noetherian conditions," Notices of the American Mathematical Society. 26 (1979): A-55.
- Gloria Conyers Hewitt, "The existence of free unions in classes of abstract algebras," Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 14 (1963), 417–422. 08.30
- Gloria Conyers Hewitt, "The status of women in mathematics," Annals of the New York Academy of Science. 323 (1979)
- Gloria Conyers Hewitt, "Women in mathematics," Monthly, MAA, November. (1971)
References
- 1 2 3 4 Charlene Morrow and Teri Peri (eds), Notable Women in Mathematics, Greenwood Press, 1998, pp. 76–79.
- ↑ Kenschaft, Patricia Clark (1994). "Hewitt, Gloria Conyers (1935–)". Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 557–558. ISBN 0-253-32774-1.
- 1 2 3 4 "Gloria Hewitt". www.agnesscott.edu. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lattimore, Randy (2001). "Gloria Hewitt: Mathematician" (PDF). The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. 94.
- ↑ Hewitt, Gloria C. (1979-04-01). "The Status of Women in Mathematics". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 323 (1): 100–109. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1979.tb16844.x. ISSN 1749-6632.