Madeline Levin Early (April 1, 1912 – January 20, 2001) was an American mathematician and university professor. She was one of the few American women to be awarded a PhD in math before World War II.

Biography

Madeline Levin was born April 1, 1912 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, the youngest child of Dora (Siegal) and Hyman Levin. She was the Russian immigrants' youngest of seven children.Green, Judy, and Jeanne LaDuke. ''Supplementary Material for Pioneering Women in American Mathematics: The Pre-1940 PhD's''. American Mathematical Society, 2009. She attended public schools in New York City and studied mathematics at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

, where she was a member of

Pi Mu Epsilon Pi Mu Epsilon ( or PME) is the U.S. honorary national mathematics society. The society currently has chapters at 371 institutions across the U.S. History Pi Mu Epsilon was founded at Syracuse University on , by Professor Edward Drake Roe, Jr. Pi ...

, graduating

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

. She received her bachelor 's degree there in 1932 and then studied at

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) 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 Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...

where she earned a master's degree in 1933. She received her doctorate in 1936 under William Welch Flexner with the dissertation ''An Extension of the Lefschetz Intersectional Theory''. After Madeline received her doctorate, she returned to Hunter College as an instructor. During the early years 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 ...

, she took a military leave of absence to attend the

Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing The Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing (HBSON) is the nursing school of Hunter College, a public university that is a constituent organization of the City University of New York (CUNY). It is located on the Brookdale Campus, at East 25th Street ...

(Brookdale Campus) and earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from the affiliated

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. In March 1945, she was appointed to the rank of ensign in the Naval Reserve and from 1945 to 1947, she served in the Navy at the U.S. Naval Hospital St. Albans on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

and later on the island of

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

. After her discharge from the Navy in March 1947, she used the benefits she received from the

G.I. Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I. (military), G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in ...

, to do post-doctoral study at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

during the 1947–1948 school year, and there she met her future husband Harold C. Early. In 1956, Madeline became an assistant professor at

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...

Ypsilanti Ypsilanti ( ), commonly shortened to Ypsi ( ), is a college town and city located on the Huron River in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 20,648. The city is bounded to the north ...

, and was promoted to associate professor in 1959, and full professor in 1967. She retired in 1975. Madeline Early died January 20, 2001 in

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

, Michigan, and was buried in the

Fort Custer National Cemetery Fort Custer National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located just outside the village of Augusta in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. It encompasses , and had 33,000 interments. History Named for General George Armstrong Custer, the ...

Battle Creek Battle Creek is a city in northwestern Calhoun County, Michigan, United States, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a tota ...

, Michigan.

Personal life

In 1949, Madeline Levin married fellow mathematician Harold C. Early, and changed her name to Madeline Early. They had a son, Robert Early, in 1951. The couple divorced in 1958.

Selected publications

* 1934: Levin, M.; Flexner, W. W.: The intersection of arbitrary chains and its boundary. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 20. * 1937: Levin, M.: An extension of the Lefschetz intersection theory. Rev. Cienc. (Univ. Nac. Mayor San Marcos, Lima) 39.

Memberships

Organizational affiliations, according to

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

. *

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, ...

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 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, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Early, Madeline 1912 births 2001 deaths American mathematicians 20th-century American women mathematicians 20th-century American mathematicians Hunter College alumni Hunter College faculty Bryn Mawr College alumni Eastern Michigan University faculty