Ione Holt Grogan (March 4, 1891 – February 5, 1961) was an American academic, mathematician, and educator. She worked as a schoolteacher in North Carolina and Georgia for twenty-two years before joining the faculty at the

Woman's College of the University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand ...

, where she was a professor of mathematics from 1935 to 1958. A dormitory, a residence college, and a scholarship at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (previously the Woman's College), are named after her. Grogan was also the president of the Reviewers Club, the oldest literary club for women in North Carolina.

Early life, family, and education

Grogan was born on March 4, 1891 in

Reidsville, North Carolina Reidsville is a city in Rockingham County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. At the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 14,580. Reidsville is included in the Greensboro–High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area of the Piedmont ...

to John Henry Grogan and Mary Alice Robertson. Through her mother, she was a descendant of the Robertson family, a Virginian colonial family, and was a relative of Captain John Ray Webster. Her mother was raised by an aunt and uncle, Margaret Hurt Robertson and Walter Scott Irving, Webster's great-grandparents, on their tobacco farm near Stoneville after the death of Grogan's grandmother, Nancy Montgomery. Grogan had one brother, Frank Elmer Grogan. She received two degrees from the

, an English degree in 1913 and a mathematics degree in 1926. In 1928 she earned a master's degree in mathematics from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

Career

From 1913 through the 1920s, prior to going to graduate school at Columbia, Grogan taught English at elementary, middle, and high schools in North Carolina and Georgia. She worked as a teacher for twenty-two years before joining the faculty at the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina in 1935. She was a mathematics professor at the college and served as residence hall counsel for the Coit and Weil dormitories until 1958. She served as president of the college's Alumnae Association from 1945 to 1947. While living in Greensboro, Grogan was an active member of the

North Carolina Democratic Party The North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) is the North Carolina affiliate of the Democratic Party. It is headquartered in the historic Goodwin House, located in Raleigh. Governor Roy Cooper is a North Carolina Democrat. Since the 2010 passage ...

and the Greensboro League of Women Voters, and served as president of the Reviewers Club, the oldest literary club for women in North Carolina.

Death and legacy

Grogan died on February 5, 1961. She was buried at Greenview Cemetery in Reidsville. The Ione Holt Grogan Scholarship, as well as the Grogan Residence Hall and Grogan Residential College at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, are named after her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grogan, Ione 1891 births 1961 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians 20th-century American women American women educators American women mathematicians Columbia University alumni Mathematicians from North Carolina Members of the League of Women Voters North Carolina Democrats People from Reidsville, North Carolina Robertson family of Virginia Schoolteachers from North Carolina University of North Carolina at Greensboro alumni University of North Carolina at Greensboro faculty