Roxana Hayward Vivian (December 9, 1871 – May 31, 1961) was an American

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

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University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Early life and education

Roxana Hayward Vivian was born to Roxana Nott and Robert Hayward Vivian on December 9, 1871, in Hyde Park, Boston,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. She went to Hyde Park High School and then, from 1890 to 1894, to

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

where she graduated in Greek and mathematics.

Career and research

After four years as a high school teacher in suburban

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Vivian started post-graduate study at the University of Pennsylvania, where she took a

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in mathematics in 1901 with a thesis on "Poles of a Right Line with Respect to a Curve of the Order ''n''". She returned to Wellesley College as a mathematics teacher, the first in her department to hold a doctorate. In 1906 she went to teach at the

American College for Girls The American Robert College of Istanbul ( tr, İstanbul Özel Amerikan Robert Lisesi or ), often shortened to Robert, or RC, is a highly selective, independent, co-educational high school in Turkey.The Turkish education system divides schools i ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey, where for two years she was the acting president. In 1908 she became an associate professor at Wellesley, and was made a full professor in 1918; from 1918 to 1921 she was also director of the Graduate Department of Hygiene and Physical Education. In 1925–26 Vivian took a one-year professorship at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. She again returned to Wellesley, but soon resigned. In 1929, after a year in

Vassalboro, Maine Vassalboro (originally Vassalborough) is a town in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,520 at the 2020 census. Vassalboro includes the villages of Riverside, Getchell's Corner, North Vassalboro, and East Vassalboro, home t ...

, she became a mathematics professor and dean of women at Hartwick College of

Oneonta, New York Oneonta ( ) is a city in southern Otsego County, New York, United States. It is one of the northernmost cities of the Appalachian Region. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, Oneonta had a population of 13,079. Its nickname is "City of the Hil ...

. From 1931 to 1935 she was a mathematics teacher and dean of girls at Rye Public High School in New York. She died in 1961 in Boston.

Early life and education

Career and research

References

Further reading