Maria-Pia Geppert
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Maria-Pia Geppert (May 28, 1907 – November 18, 1997) was a German mathematician and biostatistician who co-founded the ''
Biometrical Journal ''Biometrical Journal'' covers statistics, statistical methods and their applications in life sciences including medicine, environmental sciences and agriculture. Typical articles contain both, the development of methodology and its application. At ...
''. Geppert was the first woman to become a full professor at the
University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...
. With
Emmy Noether Amalie Emmy Noether (23 March 1882 – 14 April 1935) was a German mathematician who made many important contributions to abstract algebra. She also proved Noether's theorem, Noether's first and Noether's second theorem, second theorems, which ...
, Hilda Geiringer, Ruth Moufang, and Hel Braun, Geppert was one of only a handful of women to work in mathematics in Germany before World War II and later convert their degrees into research careers as full professors.


Early life and education

Geppert was born in Breslau, with Italian descent through her mother. Breslau is now
Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
, in Poland, but at that time it was part of the
German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
. Her older brother, also became a mathematician, and a supporter of the Nazis. She studied mathematics in Breslau and in
Giessen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...
, and in 1932 completed a doctorate at the
University of Breslau A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
. Her dissertation, ''Approximative Darstellungen analytischer Funktionen, die durch Dirichletsche Reihen gegeben sind'', concerned
analytic number theory In mathematics, analytic number theory is a branch of number theory that uses methods from mathematical analysis to solve problems about the integers. It is often said to have begun with Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet's 1837 introduction of Dir ...
and was supervised by
Guido Hoheisel Guido Karl Heinrich Hoheisel (14 July 1894 – 11 October 1968) was a Germans, German mathematician and professor of mathematics at the University of Cologne. Academic life He did his PhD in 1920 from the University of Berlin under the supervis ...
.
Edmund Landau Edmund Georg Hermann Landau (14 February 1877 – 19 February 1938) was a German mathematician who worked in the fields of number theory and complex analysis. Biography Edmund Landau was born to a Jewish family in Berlin. His father was Leopo ...
, in his last publication before Hitler came to power, commented unfavorably on one of her papers. Next, Geppert moved to Rome, where from 1933 to 1936 she studied
actuarial science Actuarial science is the discipline that applies mathematics, mathematical and statistics, statistical methods to Risk assessment, assess risk in insurance, pension, finance, investment and other industries and professions. Actuary, Actuaries a ...
and
statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...
for a second doctorate under the supervision of
Guido Castelnuovo Guido Castelnuovo (14 August 1865 – 27 April 1952) was an Italian mathematician. He is best known for his contributions to the field of algebraic geometry, though his contributions to the study of statistics and probability theory are also s ...
. She completed a
habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...
in 1942 at the
University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the German-speaking world. It is named afte ...
. Her dissertation was ''Comparison of Two Observed Frequencies''. write that her habilitation dissertation was "important but forgotten" because of the circumstances of the war, and they adopt her title for their own.


Career

In 1940, Geppert became director of the Department of Epidemiology and Statistics for the William G. Kerckhoff Heart Research Institute in
Bad Nauheim Bad Nauheim () is a town in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse state of Germany. As of 2020, Bad Nauheim has a population of 32,493. The town is approximately north of Frankfurt am Main, on the east edge of the Taunus mountain range. It is a w ...
, later to become the
Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ( ...
. She joined
Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...
in 1943, as a lecturer in biostatistics. In 1964 she became chair for medical biometry at the
University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...
. In doing so, she became the first female full professor at the University of Tübingen. She retired in 1975.


''Biometrical Journal''

With Ottokar Heinisch, Geppert founded the ''
Biometrical Journal ''Biometrical Journal'' covers statistics, statistical methods and their applications in life sciences including medicine, environmental sciences and agriculture. Typical articles contain both, the development of methodology and its application. At ...
'' in 1959. She was co-editor-in-chief with Heinisch from its founding until 1966, and remained co-editor-in-chief with until 1969.


Recognition

In 1951, Geppert became the first German elected into the
International Statistical Institute The International Statistical Institute (ISI) is a professional association of statisticians. At a meeting of the Jubilee Meeting of the Royal Statistical Society, statisticians met and formed the agreed statues of the International Statistical ...
in the post-war period. She also became an honorary member of the
International Biometric Society The International Biometric Society (IBS) is an international professional and academic society promoting the development and application of statistical and mathematical theory and methods in the biosciences, including biostatistics. It sponsors t ...
in 1965, the first person from the German region of the society to be so honored.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geppert, Maria Pia 1907 births 1997 deaths 20th-century German mathematicians Biostatisticians Women biostatisticians German statisticians Academic staff of Goethe University Frankfurt German women statisticians University of Breslau alumni Academic staff of the University of Tübingen 20th-century German women mathematicians