Sister Marion Beiter (August 23, 1907 – October 11, 1982), born Dorothy Katharine Beiter, was an American mathematician and educator. Her research focused on the area of

cyclotomic polynomial In mathematics, the ''n''th cyclotomic polynomial, for any positive integer ''n'', is the unique irreducible polynomial with integer coefficients that is a divisor of x^n-1 and is not a divisor of x^k-1 for any Its roots are all ''n''th primiti ...

s. Beiter was born in Buffalo to Kathryn () and Edward Frederick Beiter, where she attended Sacred Heart Academy. She entered the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity in 1923, and professed her

final vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhism tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of rel ...

in 1929. She began her career in 1925 as a teacher in parochial and private schools, continuing in this capacity until 1952, when she was appointed chairwoman of the mathematics department of Rosary Hill College. She meanwhile graduated from

Canisius College Canisius College is a private Jesuit college in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 master's ...

(1944) and

St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure University is a private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,381 undergraduate and graduate students. The Franciscan Brothers established the university in 1858. In athletics, the St. Bonaventure Bonn ...

(1948), before obtaining a PhD from the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

in 1960. In her work on cyclotomic polynomials and their coefficients she made a conjecture referred to as Sister Beiter conjecture. Besides a sabbatical year at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1971–1972, Beiter remained at Rosary Hill until her retirement in May 1977. Beiter died in 1982 of a series of

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beiter, Marion 1907 births 1982 deaths 20th-century American educators American women mathematicians Canisius College alumni Catholic University of America alumni Daemen College Franciscans Mathematicians from New York (state) Scientists from Buffalo, New York St. Bonaventure University alumni