Dorothy Lewis Bernstein (April 11, 1914 – February 5, 1988) was an American mathematician known for her work in

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematics, mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and Industrial sector, industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a ...

, statistics,

computer programming Computer programming or coding is the composition of sequences of instructions, called computer program, programs, that computers can follow to perform tasks. It involves designing and implementing algorithms, step-by-step specifications of proc ...

, and her research on the

Laplace transform In mathematics, the Laplace transform, named after Pierre-Simon Laplace (), is an integral transform that converts a Function (mathematics), function of a Real number, real Variable (mathematics), variable (usually t, in the ''time domain'') to a f ...

. She was the first woman to be elected president of the

Mathematics Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure a ...

.MAA presidents: Dorothy Lewis Bernstein
Mathematical Association of America website. Accessed January 27, 2024.

Early life

Bernstein was born in Chicago, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants Jacob Louis Bernstein (1880–1956) and Tille (Lewis, originally ''Loyev''; 1887–1969). Her parents had little or no formal education but encouraged their five children to seek education; all five earned either a PhD or MD.

Education

Bernstein attended North Division High School (

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

). In 1930, she attended the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, where she held a University Scholarship (1933–1934) and was elected to

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

. In 1934, she graduated with both a B.A degree, summa cum laude, and a M.A. Degree in Mathematics. She did her master's thesis research on finding complex roots of polynomials by an extension of

Newton's method In numerical analysis, the Newton–Raphson method, also known simply as Newton's method, named after Isaac Newton and Joseph Raphson, is a root-finding algorithm which produces successively better approximations to the roots (or zeroes) of a ...

. In 1935, she attended

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, where she became a member of the scientific society

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...

. She earned her Ph.D. in mathematics from Brown in 1939, while simultaneously holding a teaching position at

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...

. Her dissertation was entitled "The Double Laplace Integral" and was published in the ''

Duke Mathematical Journal ''Duke Mathematical Journal'' is a peer-reviewed mathematics journal published by Duke University Press. It was established in 1935. The founding editors-in-chief were David Widder, Arthur Coble, and Joseph Miller Thomas. The first issue inclu ...

''.

Career

From 1943 to 1959, she taught at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

, where she worked on existence theorems for

partial differential equations In mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which involves a multivariable function and one or more of its partial derivatives. The function is often thought of as an "unknown" that solves the equation, similar to how ...

. Her work was motivated by non-linear problems that were just being tackled by high-speed digital computers. In 1950, Princeton University Press published her book, ''Existence Theorems in Partial Differential Equations''. She spent 1959–1979 as a professor of mathematics at

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, ...

, where she was chairman of the mathematics department for most of that time (1960–1970, 1974–1979). She professed that she was particularly interested combining pure and applied mathematics in the undergraduate curriculum. Due in great part to Bernstein's ability to get grants from the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

, Goucher College was the first women's university to use computers in mathematics instruction, beginning in 1961. She developed an internship program for Goucher mathematics students to obtain meaningful employment experience. In 1972, she cofounded the Maryland Association for Educational Uses of Computers, and was interested in incorporating computers into secondary school mathematics. Bernstein was very active in the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary edu ...

, where she was on the board of governors from 1965 to 1968. She served as the vice president in 1972–1973, and later became the first female president of the MAA in 1979–1980.

Women in mathematics

She noted that attitudes and opportunities for women changed drastically after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, which she attributed to two causes. First, that women demonstrated they could handle the jobs formerly held by men, and second that the rise of computer technology opened up many new areas of mathematical applications resulting in new jobs.

Death

Bernstein was treated for her final illness in Rhode Island Hospital,

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, where she died at the age of 73. She was buried in Anshai Lebowitz Cemetery, Milwaukee where her father and mother had been buried.

Memberships

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) is a professional society dedicated to applied mathematics, computational science, and data science through research, publications, and community. SIAM is the world's largest scientific soci ...

American Association of University Professors The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States that was founded in 1915 in New York City and is currently headquartered in Washington, D.C. AAUP membership inc ...

* Fellow,

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

, 1981

Bibliography

* .

References

External links

"Dorothy Lewis Bernstein", Biographies of Women Mathematicians

Agnes Scott College Agnes Scott College is a Private university, private Women's Colleges in the Southern United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Decatur, Georgia. The college enrolls approximately 1,000 undergra ...

* Biography on p. 77-80 of th
Supplementary Material
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AMS
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Dorothy 1914 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians American people of Russian-Jewish descent Brown University alumni Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars Presidents of the Mathematical Association of America University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Goucher College faculty and staff Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 20th-century American women mathematicians North Division High School (Milwaukee) alumni Mount Holyoke College faculty