Gwynneth "Gwyn" Coogan (born Gwynneth Hardesty; August 21, 1965 in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Olympic athlete Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

, educator and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

. Hardesty attended

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

for two years, where she played squash and field hockey. She then attended

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

, graduating in 1987, where she majored in math and took up running for the first time, and became the two-time

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...

champion in the 3,000 meters. She qualified for the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in Barcelona, where she competed in the

10,000 meters The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

. Four years later, she was an alternate for the women's marathon for the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta. She was the 1998 United States National Champion in the Marathon.

Early and personal life

Coogan went on to earn her Ph.D. in math from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

in 1999, working primarily in

number theory Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic function, integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777� ...

. She did post-doctorate work with Ken Ono at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

, taught at

Hood College , motto_lang = la , mottoeng = With Heart and Mind and Hand , established = , type = Private college , religious_affiliation = United Church of Christ , endowment = $104.5 million (2020) , president = Andrea E. Chapd ...

, and currently teaches math at

.List of Phillips Exeter Academy mathematics department faculty

Achievements

References

1965 births Living people American female long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1995 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Mathematics educators Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Phillips Exeter Academy faculty Smith Pioneers track and field athletes Hood College faculty University of Colorado alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Sportspeople from Trenton, New Jersey Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States American women academics 20th-century American women {{US-longdistance-athletics-bio-stub