Carol Karp, born Carol Ruth Vander Velde (10 August 1926 in Forest Grove,

Ottawa County, Michigan Ottawa County ( ) is a Counties of the United States, county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, United States 2020 Census, the population was 296,200. The county seat is Grand Haven, Michigan, Grand Haven ...

– 20 August 1972 in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

), was an American mathematician of Dutch ancestry, best known for her work on

infinitary logic An infinitary logic is a logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how c ...

. She also played

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

in an all-women orchestra.

Life

Born in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

to a farming supply store manager and a housewife, Carol and her siblings graduated from high school in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. After that, she graduated from Manchester University, Indiana and went back to Michigan to study at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

(then called Michigan State College), where she earned a master's degree in 1950. In 1951 she married Arthur Karp and took his last name. She continued her graduate study in mathematics while traveling to California and Japan with her husband, who worked in the US Navy. She completed her Ph.D. in 1959 at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

under the supervision of

Leon Henkin Leon Albert Henkin (April 19, 1921, Brooklyn, New York - November 1, 2006, Oakland, California) was an American logician, whose works played a strong role in the development of logic, particularly in the theory of types. He was an active scholar ...

. Her dissertation, in

formal language theory In logic, mathematics, computer science, and linguistics, a formal language consists of words whose letters are taken from an alphabet and are well-formed according to a specific set of rules. The alphabet of a formal language consists of symb ...

and

, was ''Languages with Expressions of Infinite Length''; she later published it as a book with the same title (North–Holland Publishing, 1964). Even before completing her doctorate, Karp had taken a faculty position in 1958 at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

, where she was promoted to full professor after only seven years and became a "leader in the developing theory of infinitary logic". In 1969 she was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

but remained active until her death three years later.

Legacy

The

Karp Prize The Association for Symbolic Logic (ASL) is an international organization of specialists in mathematical logic and philosophical logic. The ASL was founded in 1936, and its first president was Alonzo Church. The current president of the ASL is ...

of the

Association for Symbolic Logic The Association for Symbolic Logic (ASL) is an international organization of specialists in mathematical logic and philosophical logic. The ASL was founded in 1936, and its first president was Alonzo Church. The current president of the ASL is ...

is named in her honor. The cash prize was established in 1973 and is awarded every five years for a "connected body of research, most of which has been completed in the time since the previous prize was awarded."

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Karp, Carol 1926 births 1972 deaths Manchester University (Indiana) alumni Michigan State University alumni University of Maryland, College Park faculty American women mathematicians 20th-century American mathematicians 20th-century women mathematicians 20th-century American women