Evelyn Marie Silvia (February 8, 1948 – January 21, 2006) was an American mathematician specializing in
functional analysis
Functional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis, the core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces endowed with some kind of limit-related structure (e.g. Inner product space#Definition, inner product, Norm (mathematics)#Defini ...
and particularly in
starlike functions. She was a professor at the
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...
, and as well as teaching mathematics at the undergraduate and graduate levels there, was active in the improvement of secondary-school
mathematics education
In contemporary education, mathematics education, known in Europe as the didactics or pedagogy of mathematics – is the practice of teaching, learning and carrying out scholarly research into the transfer of mathematical knowledge.
Although rese ...
.
Education
Silvia was born in
Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state.
Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...
.
A seventh-grade mathematics teacher told her she was the best student he had ever seen, a moment that built her confidence in the subject and led her to become a mathematician.
She graduated from
Southeastern Massachusetts University
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMass Dartmouth or UMassD) is a public research university in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. It is the southernmost campus of the University of Massachusetts system. Formerly Southeastern Massachusetts Un ...
in 1969, with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. Continuing her graduate education at
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...
, she earned a master's degree in 1973 and completed her Ph.D. in 1973. Her doctoral dissertation, ''Classes Related to Alpha-Starlike Functions'', was supervised by
Herb Silverman.
Career
Silvia joined the UC Davis faculty in 1973, and remained there until retiring and becoming a
professor emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
shortly before her death.
Beyond her work as a mathematics professor, Silvia worked as a volunteer teacher of mathematics in local elementary and secondary schools. In the 1970s, she directed a master's-level teaching program at UC Davis, and in the 1990s, she headed the Northern California Math Project, an effort to improve mathematics education throughout Northern California.
Recognition
The UC Davis Academic Senate gave Silvia their Distinguished Teaching Award in 1990. In 2001, she was one of the winners of the
Deborah and Franklin Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics, given by 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 ...
to recognize college or university teachers "who have been widely recognized as extraordinarily successful and whose teaching effectiveness has been shown to have had influence beyond their own institutions".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silvia, Evelyn M.
1948 births
2006 deaths
20th-century American mathematicians
21st-century American mathematicians
American women mathematicians
Functional analysts
Mathematics educators
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth alumni
University of California, Davis faculty
20th-century women mathematicians
21st-century women mathematicians
20th-century American women
21st-century American women