Beatrice Aitchison (July 18, 1908 – September 22, 1997) was an American

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

statistician A statistician is a person who works with Theory, theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private sector, private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, a ...

, and transportation economist who directed the Transport Economics Division of the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econ ...

,. Biography on p.8-12 of th
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United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

and the first policy-level appointee there..

Early life

Aitchison's mother was a musician and her father, Clyde Bruce Aitchison, was a lawyer and economist who served on the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later Trucking industry in the United States, truc ...

. She was born on July 18, 1908, in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. Aitchison lived in Portland until 1916 and then in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, for the rest of her childhood.

Education

Aitchison attended Central High School. She was part of the Phi Beta Kappa sorority and earned a bachelor's degree from

Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1885 as a Nonsectarian, nonsecterian Women's colleges in the United States, ...

in 1928. After working for a year as an actuary in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, she began graduate studies at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

in mathematics, completing her master's in 1931 and her Ph.D. in 1933. Her dissertation, supervised by Gordon Thomas Whyburn, was entitled ''On Mapping with Functions of Finite Sections'', and concerned

point-set topology In mathematics, general topology (or point set topology) is the branch of topology that deals with the basic set-theoretic definitions and constructions used in topology. It is the foundation of most other branches of topology, including differ ...

; she also published two papers in the same area. At the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

, Aitchison completed a second master's degree in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

in 1937.

Career

Because of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, employment as a mathematician was hard to find: she applied to 145 schools but was only able to find a one-semester temporary position, substituting for a sick instructor at the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

's Westhampton College for Women. Following this, she worked from 1934 to 1935 as a lecturer in statistics at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

in Washington, D.C. Aitchison moved back to Portland in 1935, and worked for the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

in 1936. She returned to

as a lecturer in statistics and remained there until 1939, while also working for the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

and the Interstate Commerce Commission. From 1939 to 1942, she taught economics at the University of Oregon. By 1942, she was once again working for the federal government, this time in transportation economics, a career that would last the rest of her life. From 1942 to 1951, Aitchison was a statistician and later a transportation economist with the Interstate Commerce Commission. She also lectured at American University from 1942 to 1944, and consulted with the Office of Defense Transportation during World War II. From 1951 to 1953, she headed the Transport Economics Division of the

's Office of Transportation, but this division was eliminated in 1953. From 1953 until 1971, Aitchison worked for the Post Office. She then became Director of Transportation Research in the Bureau of Transportation of the

, becoming both the top woman at the postal service and "the first woman to be appointed to a policy level postal position". When she retired in July 1971, Aitchison "was one of the highest ranking women in the federal service"..

Awards and recognitions

The

United States Civil Service Commission The United States Civil Service Commission was a government agency of the federal government of the United States. It was created to select employees of federal government on merit rather than relationships. In 1979, it was dissolved as part of ...

gave Aitchison one of its first Federal Woman's Awards in 1961 chosen from a field of more than 25,000, a piece of recognition that gave Aitchison leverage to push President

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

into drafting an executive order banning sex discrimination in the U.S. government. In 1965, she was elected as a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

American Statistical Association The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 27, 1839, and is the second-oldest continuous ...

"for pioneering work in the development and application of statistical methods for research and analysis in traffic and transportation." She won the Career Service Award of the National Civil Service League in 1970. In 1997, the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association gave her their Woodrow Wilson Award "for outstanding government service". Aitchison is included in a deck of playing cards featuring notable women mathematicians published by the

Association for Women in Mathematics The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) is a professional society whose mission is to encourage women and girls to study and to have active careers in the mathematical sciences, and to promote equal opportunity for and the equal treatment o ...

Death

Aitchison died of congestive heart failure at

Sibley Memorial Hospital Sibley Memorial Hospital is a non-profit hospital located in The Palisades neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and is licensed by the District of Columbia D ...

in Washington, D.C., on September 22, 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aitchison, Beatrice 1908 births 1997 deaths Economists from Oregon American women economists American women statisticians Goucher College alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni American University faculty Fellows of the American Statistical Association Writers from Portland, Oregon Mathematicians from Maryland Mathematicians from Oregon 20th-century American mathematicians 20th-century American women mathematicians Writers from Maryland University of Richmond faculty University of Oregon alumni University of Oregon faculty Lyndon B. Johnson administration personnel 20th-century American economists Economists from Maryland