Sylvia Wiegand

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Sylvia Margaret Wiegand
Born (1945-03-08)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 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. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Sylvia Wiegand". Agnesscott.edu. 1945-03-08. Retrieved 2012-10-31. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sylvia Wiegand at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "OCWW | Vol 32, Issue 3-4 | Features". Aacu.org. Retrieved 2012-10-31. 
  4. ↑ PO BOX 880130 (2010-11-18). "UNL | Arts & Sciences | Math | Department | Awards | Graduate Student Awards". Math.unl.edu. Retrieved 2012-10-31. 
  5. ↑ "Grace Chisholm Young". Agnesscott.edu. 1944-03-29. Retrieved 2012-10-31. 
  6. ↑ "Sylvia Wiegand's Homepage". Math.unl.edu. Retrieved 2012-10-31. 
  7. ↑ "AWM Profile". Ams.org. Retrieved 2012-10-31. 
  8. ↑ List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society, retrieved 2013-09-01.

External links

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