Winifred Edgerton,(September 24, 1862 - September 6, 1951) was born in Ripon, Wisconsin, was the first American woman to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics. She earned her B.A. degree from Wellesley College in 1883. She attended Columbia University in New York after a short stay at Harvard. She was awarded the PhD with high honors from Columbia University in 1886, by a unanimous vote of the board of trustees, after being rejected once.