Helen Calkins (1893–1970) was an American mathematician and professor, and one of the few women to earn a PhD in mathematics in the United States before World War II.

Biography

Helen Calkins was born on October 20, 1893, to Anna Burns Schermerhorn and Addison Niles Calkins, in Quincy, Illinois. The eldest of two daughters, she was a student at Quincy High School from 1908–1912 and then she attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, starting in 1912, graduating in 1916 with a special honor in mathematics. Her first job was teaching math at a junior high school in Quincy. In 1917 she taught at the senior high school in

Jacksonville, Illinois Jacksonville is a city and the county seat of Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,616 at the 2020 census, down from 19,446 in 2010. It is home to Illinois College, Illinois School for the Deaf, and the Illinois Sc ...

for a year before returning to Knox College as a math instructor 1918–1920. In February 1932 at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

(1920–1921) she earned her master's degree with the thesis: ''The unity in mathematics, as illustrated by a certain differential equation''. In February 1932, Calkins was awarded her PhD from

Cornell Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...

; her advisors were: Charles F. Roos and David Clinton Gillespie.Green, Judy and Jeanne LaDuke. "Supplementary Material for Pioneering Women in American Mathematics: The Pre-1940 PHD'S" (PDF). https://www.ams.org/publications/authors/books/postpub/hmath-34-PioneeringWomen.pdf Her dissertation was titled, ''Some Implicit Functional Theorems'', which concerned "a problem of maximizing a functional not of the ordinary calculus of variations type." Roos referred to it writing "I think that Miss Calkins' thesis is of unusual interest." Calkins joined the math department at the Pennsylvania College for Women (now

Chatham University Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally founded as a women's college, it began enrolling men in undergraduate programs in 2015. It enrolls about 2,110 students, including 1,002 undergraduate students and ...

) in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, where she was usually the only member of the mathematics department that she headed. She enjoyed service on faculty committees, especially those concerning course curriculum and the library. With the start of

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 ...

in 1941, Calkins became a statistician in engineering defense training at the Pennsylvania State College. In 1943, she spent a year at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, to teach math to pre-flight cadets. Calkins retired as professor

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

in 1957, from the school then known as Chatham College. Helen Calkins died on June 17, 1970, at the Good Samaritan Home in Quincy, Illinois of heart disease. She was 76 years of age.

Memberships

According to Judy Green, Calkins belonged to the

Delta Delta Delta Delta Delta Delta (), also known as Tri Delta, is an international collegiate Fraternities and sororities in North America, women's fraternity. It was founded on November 27, 1888 at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. History File:S ...

social sorority, the

Pi Lambda Theta Pi Lambda Theta (ΠΛΘ) is one of three main education honor societies and professional associations for educators in the United States. Basic information Pi Lambda Theta is both an honor society and professional association for education, e ...

education honor and professional association, the College Club of Pittsburgh, and the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

as well as several professional societies. *

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, ...

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 ...

Sigma Delta Epsilon Graduate Women in Science (GWIS), formerly known as Sigma Delta Epsilon (ΣΔΕ), is an international professional organization for women in science. It was established as a scientific women's fraternity in 1921 at Cornell University, United State ...

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 ...

* Phi Mu Epsilon

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calkins, Helen 1893 births 1970 deaths American mathematicians 20th-century American women mathematicians 20th-century American mathematicians 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American educators Daughters of the American Revolution people Knox College (Illinois) alumni Columbia University alumni Cornell University alumni Chatham University faculty Graduate Women in Science members