Siobhán Vernon (née O'Shea) was the first Irish-born woman to get a PhD in pure mathematics in Ireland, in 1964.

Early life and education

Siobhán O'Shea was born in

Macroom Macroom (; ga, Maigh Chromtha) is a market town in County Cork, Ireland, located in the valley of the River Sullane, halfway between Cork city and Killarney. Its population has grown and receded over the centuries as it went through periods of ...

, County Cork, in 1932 and was the daughter of Joseph J. O'Shea and his wife M. O'Shea. Her post-primary education was at the Convent of Mercy in Macroom, but she also attended the De La Salle, a secondary school for boys, for the higher level mathematics classes required for the Irish

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certifica ...

examination. She entered

University College, Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

in 1949 and was awarded a college scholarship in 1950, based on the results of her first year examinations. She graduated in 1952 with a first class honours B.Sc. in Mathematics and Mathematical Physics. She went on to complete her M.Sc. in Mathematics and Mathematics Statistics, awarded in 1954.

Career

Siobhán Vernon worked as a demonstrator in the Department of Mathematics at University College, Cork while she completed her M.Sc. and was then appointed Senior Demonstrator. Encouraged by Dr Patrick Brendan Kennedy, Siobhán began to publish research in 1956 and was appointed to the full-time post of Assistant in 1957. Continuing her research career, she spent a year as a visiting lecturer in

Royal Holloway College Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

, University of London, in 1962-63. Returning to University College, Cork, she submitted her published papers for the award of PhD, which was awarded in 1964 by the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...

. She was appointed lecturer in 1965. Following her marriage to geologist Peter Vernon, Siobhán reduced her teaching to half-time, as they raised their four children. She later returned to full time teaching, retiring in 1988.

Awards

In 1995 she was honoured with a Catherine McAuley award as a distinguished past pupil by the Convent of Mercy in Macroom.

Later life and death

Her final publication came after her retirement, when she contributed a chapter on Paddy Kennedy in Creators of Mathematics: The Irish Connection. She died on 18 September 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vernon, Siobhán Irish women mathematicians 20th-century Irish mathematicians 1932 births 2002 deaths People from Macroom 20th-century women mathematicians