Sylvia Wiegand
| Sylvia Margaret Wiegand | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 8, 1945 Cape Town, South Africa |
| Fields |
Commutative algebra math education, history of math |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Thesis | Galois Theory of Essential Expansions of Modules and Vanishing Tensor Powers (1972) |
| Doctoral advisor | Lawrence S. Levy |
Sylvia Margaret Wiegand (born March 8, 1945) is an American mathematician.[1]
Biography
She was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Her family moved to Wisconsin in 1949,[1] and she graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1966 after three years of study.[1] In 1971 Wiegand earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.[2] Her dissertation was titled Galois Theory of Essential Expansions of Modules and Vanishing Tensor Powers.[2]
In 1987 she became a full professor at the University of Nebraska; at the time Wiegand was the only female professor in the math department.[1] In 1988 Sylvia headed a search committee for two new jobs in the math department, for which two women were hired, although one stayed only a year and another left after four years.[3] In 1996 Sylvia and her husband Roger established a fellowship for graduate student research at the university in honor of Sylvia's grandparents, called the Grace Chisholm Young and William Henry Young Award.[4] Grace Chisholm Young was the first woman to earn a PhD in any discipline from a German university; hers was in mathematics, and her thesis was titled "Algebraisch-gruppentheoretische Untersuchungen zur sphärischen Trigonometrie" (Algebraic Groups of Spherical Trigonometry.)[5][3]
From 1997 until 2000, Wiegand was President of the Association for Women in Mathematics.[6][7]
Wiegand has published over forty research papers, including seven joint papers with her husband, and supervised five Ph.D. students.[1]
Recognition
Wiegand is featured in the book Notable Women in Mathematics: A Biographical Dictionary, edited by Charlene Morrow and Teri Perl, published in 1998.[1] For her work in improving the status of women in mathematics, she was awarded the University of Nebraska's Outstanding Contribution to the Status of Women Award in 2000.[3] In May 2005, the University of Nebraska hosted the Nebraska Commutative Algebra Conference: WiegandFest "in celebration of the many important contributions of Sylvia and her husband Roger Wiegand."[1]
In 2012 she became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.[8]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Sylvia Wiegand". Agnesscott.edu. 1945-03-08. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- 1 2 Sylvia Wiegand at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
- 1 2 3 "OCWW | Vol 32, Issue 3-4 | Features". Aacu.org. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ↑ PO BOX 880130 (2010-11-18). "UNL | Arts & Sciences | Math | Department | Awards | Graduate Student Awards". Math.unl.edu. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ↑ "Grace Chisholm Young". Agnesscott.edu. 1944-03-29. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ↑ "Sylvia Wiegand's Homepage". Math.unl.edu. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ↑ "AWM Profile" (PDF). Ams.org. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ↑ List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society, retrieved 2013-09-01.