Anna Margaret Mullikin (1893–1975) was an American mathematician who was one of the early investigators of point set theory. She was one of the few women to earn a PhD in math before World War II.Bartlow, T. L. and Zitarelli, D. E. (2009
''Who Was Miss Mullikin?''

American Mathematical Monthly ''The American Mathematical Monthly'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of mathematics. It was established by Benjamin Finkel in 1894 and is published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of the Mathematical Association of America. It is an exposi ...

116(2), 99-114.Zitarelli, D. E. (2009) ''Connected Sets and the AMS: 1901-1921'',

Notices of the American Mathematical Society ''Notices of the American Mathematical Society'' is the membership journal of the American Mathematical Society (AMS), published monthly except for the combined June/July issue. The first volume was published in 1953. Each issue of the magazine ...

56(4), 450-458. Green, Judy, Jeanne LaDuke: Pioneering Women in American Mathematics: The Pre-1940 PhD’s. 2009,

Biography

Anna Margaret Mullikin was born in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, Maryland, March 7, 1893, as the youngest of four children of Sophia Ridgely (Battee) and William Lawrence Mullikin. Anna received her BA 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

Towson Towson () is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is t ...

, Maryland, in 1915. After she graduated Mullikin taught in private schools including Science Hill School in Shelbyville, Kentucky, (1915–1917) and at Mary Baldwin Seminary in Staunton, Virginia, 1917–1918. Mullikin went on to attend

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

for doctoral work. She was

Robert Lee Moore Robert Lee Moore (November 14, 1882 – October 4, 1974) was an American mathematician who taught for many years at the University of Texas. He is known for his work in general topology, for the Moore method of teaching university mathematics, ...

's third student, graduating with her PhD in 1922 with a dissertation titled ''Certain Theorems Relating to Plane Connected Point Sets''. Her dissertation was published that year in

Transactions of the American Mathematical Society The ''Transactions of the American Mathematical Society'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of pure and applied mathematics published by the American Mathematical Society. It was established in 1900. As a requirement, all articles must ...

Mullikin, A. (1922) ''Certain Theorems Relating to Plane Connected Point Sets'',

24, 144-162. and subsequently became the catalyst for significant advances in the field of topology. Her main result was initially referred to as "Miss Mullikin's Theorem" but by 1928 it was called the "Janiszewski-Mullikin theorem." During 1921–1922, while studying for her doctorate, she taught at Oak Lane Country Day School, which served preschool and elementary-aged children in Pennsylvania.. Also published as . As a PhD, she spent her career as a secondary school mathematics teacher, beginning at William Penn High School in Philadelphia for one year (1922–1923) before moving to

Germantown High School (Philadelphia) Germantown High School was a secondary school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Germantown High School graduated its final class on June 19, 2013 and closed its doors that week. GHS, located in Germantown, Philadelphia, Germantown, was a part of t ...

. There she became a mentor to Mary-Elizabeth Hamstrom, who would go on to become a student of Moore and professional mathematician herself. At Germantown High School she was named department head of the mathematics in 1952, and she remained there until her retirement in 1959. Anna Mullikin died August 24, 1975, in Philadelphia at 82 and was interred in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.

References

External links

*
MacTutor page
* Biography on p. 448-450 of th
Supplementary Material
a
AMS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullikin, Anna 1893 births 1975 deaths Goucher College alumni 20th-century American mathematicians 20th-century American women mathematicians 20th-century American women scientists University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences alumni Mathematicians from Maryland American mathematicians