Huguette Delavault (15 January 1924 – 2 April 2003) was a French mathematician, specializing in

mathematical physics Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The '' Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the developme ...

. (in French), Caroline More, femmesetassociations.org, archived from the original on September 27, 2007.Archives Huguette Delavault (13 AF)
(in French), Univ. of Angers Library, retrieved 2014-06-18.Huguette Delavault (1924–2003)
(in French), D. Gondard-Cozette, Institut de Mathematique de Jussieu, Universite Paris VI, retrieved 2014-06-18.

Education and career

Delavault was born on 15 January 1924, in

Andilly, Charente-Maritime Andilly () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Andillais'' or ''Andillaises'' Geography Location Andilly is a marshy commune i ...

; her parents were both teachers. She studied at a school for teachers, the École normale d'instituteurs in

La Rochelle, France La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

, from 1940 to 1943, and then became a student at the École normale supérieure de Fontenay-aux-Roses from 1946 to 1949. After interrupting her studies for health reasons, in 1952 she passed her agrégation in mathematics. She became a researcher at CNRS from 1952 to 1958, while earning a doctorate in mathematics in 1957 from the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

under the supervision of

Henri Villat Henri René Pierre Villat (; 24 December 1879 – 19 March 1972) was a French mathematician. He was professor of fluid mechanics at the University of Paris from 1927 until his death. Villat became a member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1932 ...

; her dissertation applied the

Laplace transform In mathematics, the Laplace transform, named after its discoverer Pierre-Simon Laplace (), is an integral transform that converts a function of a real variable (usually t, in the '' time domain'') to a function of a complex variable s (in the ...

and

Hankel transform In mathematics, the Hankel transform expresses any given function ''f''(''r'') as the weighted sum of an infinite number of Bessel functions of the first kind . The Bessel functions in the sum are all of the same order ν, but differ in a scaling ...

to the heat equation and

Maxwell's equations Maxwell's equations, or Maxwell–Heaviside equations, are a set of coupled partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, and electric circuits. ...

, using

cylindrical coordinates A cylindrical coordinate system is a three-dimensional coordinate system that specifies point positions by the distance from a chosen reference axis ''(axis L in the image opposite)'', the direction from the axis relative to a chosen reference d ...

. She became a researcher at the

University of Rennes The University of Rennes is a public research university which will be officially reconstituted on 1 January 2023 and located in the city of Rennes, in Upper Brittany, France. The University of Rennes has been divided for almost 50 years, before ...

in 1958, was promoted to professor in 1962, and remained there until 1970, when she became a professor at the École nationale supérieure d'ingénieurs de Caen. She retired in 1984. Delavault died on 2 April 2003.

Activism and service

From 1976 onward Delavault was a prominent activist for feminist causes, including popularizing science and mathematics among women and providing equal opportunities for them both in the academy and in the public sector. She served as deputy director of the École normale supérieure de Fontenay-aux-Roses from 1976 to 1980, and was twice president of l'Association française des femmes diplômées des universités (the French association for university women).

Awards and honors

Delavault became an officer in the Order of Academic Palms in 1967. In 1971 she became a chevalier (knight) in the

French National Order of Merit French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

, and in 1995 a chevalier in the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

References

1924 births 2003 deaths Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite 20th-century French mathematicians French women mathematicians 20th-century French women scientists 20th-century women mathematicians {{France-academic-bio-stub