Mary Ethelwynn Rice Beckwith (January 7, 1879 – August 31, 1955) was an American mathematics educator. She held a PhD in economics from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

, and taught for over forty years, at the

Emma Willard School The Emma Willard School, originally called Troy Female Seminary and often referred to simply as Emma, is an independent university-preparatory day and boarding school for young women, located in Troy, New York, on Mount Ida, offering grades 9–1 ...

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

, and

Milwaukee-Downer College Milwaukee-Downer College was a women's college in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in operation from 1895 to 1964. History Milwaukee-Downer College was established in 1895 with the merger of two institutions: Milwaukee College and Downer College of Fox Lak ...

Early life and education

Mary Ethelwynn Rice was born in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, the daughter of William Holden Price and Elizabeth P. Kinney Rice. Her father was an ordained minister, and she spent some of her girlhood in Hawaii, where she was valedictorian in the

Punahou School Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through twelfth grade, 12th grade. Protestant missionar ...

class of 1896. Rice graduated from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

in 1900, and earned a master's degree at Western Reserve University in 1909. She pursued graduate studies at Vassar College and the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

, and completed a doctorate in economics at Radcliffe College in 1925, with a dissertation titled "Inequalities in the Distribution of Income, their Meaning and Measurement." She was treasurer of the Radcliffe Graduate Club.

Career

Beckwith was a widow in her mid-twenties when she taught mathematics at the Emma Willard School in New York from 1905 to 1907. She taught mathematics at Western Reserve University from 1913 to 1920, and at Vassar College from 1921 to 1925. She was professor of mathematics and astronomy and head of the mathematics department at Milwaukee-Downer College in Wisconsin from 1925 to 1947. She was an active member of the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure a ...

. She traveled to

Trujillo, Peru Trujillo (; qu, Truhillu) is a city in coastal northwestern Peru and the capital of the Department of La Libertad. It is the third most populous city and center of the List of metropolitan areas of Peru, third most populous metropolitan area of P ...

in 1936 to witness a

total solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

, and wrote about the trip and the event for the ''Oberlin Alumnae Magazine'', quipping that "no subject under the sun is more worthy of study than the sun itself".

Personal life

In 1900, Ethelwynn Rice married William Erastus Beckwith. They lived in

Paia, Maui Pā'ia ( haw, Pāia ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaii, United States, on the northern coast of the island of Maui. The population was 2,470 at the 2020 census. Pā'ia is home to several restaurants, art galleries, su ...

, where he died in 1904. She died from injuries sustained in a car accident in 1955, aged 77 years, in

Manitowoc, Wisconsin Manitowoc () is a city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2020 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,626, with over ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beckwith, Ethelwynn Rice 1879 births 1955 deaths American economists People from Hartford, Connecticut Punahou School alumni Case Western Reserve University alumni Case Western Reserve University faculty Vassar College faculty Vassar College alumni Oberlin College alumni Milwaukee-Downer College faculty Radcliffe College alumni Emma Willard School