Born: April 11, 1914 (Chicago, Illinois)
Died: February 5, 1988
Biography:
Dorothy Lewis Bernstein (April 11, 1914 – February 5, 1988) was an American mathematician known for her work in applied mathematics, statistics, computer programming, and her research on the Laplace transform. She was the first woman to be elected president of the Mathematics Association of America.
Early Life:
Dorothy Bernstein was born in Chicago, the daughter of Jewish Russian immigrants Jacob and Tille Lewis Bernstein. Despite her parents’ lack of formal education, they encouraged all of their children to seek education, and all five of them earned either a PhD or MD.
Education:
Bernstein attended North Division High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1930, she enrolled at the University of Wisconsin and held a University Scholarship from 1933 to 1934. She was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa. In 1934, she graduated summa cum laude with both a B.A. degree and an M.A. degree in Mathematics. Her master’s thesis focused on finding complex roots of polynomials through an extension of Newton’s method.
In 1935, Bernstein attended Brown University, where she became a member of the scientific society Sigma Xi. She received her Ph.D. in Mathematics from Brown in 1939 while simultaneously holding a teaching position at Mount Holyoke College. Her dissertation, titled The Double Laplace Integral, was published in the Duke Mathematical Journal.
Career:
From 1943 to 1959, Bernstein taught at the University of Rochester, where she worked on existence theorems for partial differential equations. Her research was driven by the emerging field of high-speed digital computers and their potential in tackling non-linear problems. In 1950, Princeton University Press published her book, Existence Theorems in Partial Differential Equations.
From 1959 to 1979, Bernstein served as a professor of mathematics at Goucher College, where she also chaired the mathematics department for most of that time. She was particularly interested in combining pure and applied mathematics in the undergraduate curriculum. With her ability to secure grants from the National Science Foundation, Goucher College became the first women’s university to incorporate computers into mathematics instruction, starting in 1961. Additionally, she developed an internship program for Goucher mathematics students to gain meaningful employment experience.
In 1972, Bernstein co-founded the Maryland Association for Educational Uses of Computers and was an advocate for incorporating computers into secondary school mathematics.
Bernstein was actively involved in the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). She served on the board of governors from 1965 to 1968, became the vice president in 1972–73, and later became the first female president of the MAA in 1979–80.
Women in Mathematics:
Bernstein witnessed significant changes in attitudes and opportunities for women in mathematics after World War II. She attributed this progress to two factors. First, women demonstrated their competency in jobs traditionally held by men during the war, leading to more recognition of their capabilities. Second, the increasing availability of computer technology opened doors for women mathematicians to contribute to various fields.
Awards:
– There is no information available regarding specific awards or recognitions received by Dorothy Lewis Bernstein.
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