Marjorie "Molly" Greene Hahn (born December 30, 1948) is an American

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. In mathematics and

mathematical statistics Mathematical statistics is the application of probability theory and other mathematical concepts to statistics, as opposed to techniques for collecting statistical data. Specific mathematical techniques that are commonly used in statistics inc ...

she is known for her research in

probability theory Probability theory or probability calculus is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expre ...

, including work on

central limit theorem In probability theory, the central limit theorem (CLT) states that, under appropriate conditions, the Probability distribution, distribution of a normalized version of the sample mean converges to a Normal distribution#Standard normal distributi ...

stochastic process In probability theory and related fields, a stochastic () or random process is a mathematical object usually defined as a family of random variables in a probability space, where the index of the family often has the interpretation of time. Sto ...

es, and

stochastic differential equation A stochastic differential equation (SDE) is a differential equation in which one or more of the terms is a stochastic process, resulting in a solution which is also a stochastic process. SDEs have many applications throughout pure mathematics an ...

s. She is a professor emeritus of mathematics at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

Education

Molly Greene did her undergraduate studies at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, graduating in 1971. She went on to graduate study at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, and married Peter Florin Hahn in 1973. Like Greene, Peter Hahn had graduated with great distinction from Stanford in 1971; he was a graduate student in mathematics at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and went on to a career in

radiology Radiology ( ) is the medical specialty that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide treatment within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiation), but tod ...

at Harvard. Marjorie Hahn completed her Ph.D. in 1975. Her dissertation, supervised by Richard M. Dudley, was ''Central Limit Theorems for D ,1Valued Random Variables''.

Academic career

After postdoctoral study at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, Hahn became a faculty member at

in 1977. While active at Tufts, she supervised the dissertations of 16 doctoral students, more than anyone else in the department; her students included legal statistician Weiwen Miao. She retired as professor emeritus in 2016. In 1985, Hahn was elected as a Fellow of the

Institute of Mathematical Statistics The Institute of Mathematical Statistics is an international professional and scholarly society devoted to the development, dissemination, and application of statistics and probability. The Institute currently has about 4,000 members in all parts ...

Tennis

Hahn is also a

player. She played on the Stanford team from 1967 to 1971, and passed up a chance to play tennis professionally in favor of her work in mathematics. In 2006 her name was added to the United States Tennis Association New England Hall of Fame. In 2008 she represented the U.S. in an international seniors competition, the Alice Marble Cup, where she helped her team win a silver medal. In 2017 she was part of a U.S. team that won the Kitty Godfrey Cup for women 65 or over at the

International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. there are 211 nat ...

World Super-Senior team championships. Comparing mathematics with tennis, Hahn has said "In mathematics, you try to prove things step by step; you attempt to set up a logical method. I approach tennis by using this plan and then adjust on the fly."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hahn, Marjorie Greene 1948 births 20th-century American mathematicians 20th-century American sportswomen 20th-century American women mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians 21st-century American women mathematicians American female tennis players American statisticians American women statisticians American probability theorists Fellows of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics Living people Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Stanford Cardinal women's tennis players Stanford University alumni Tufts University faculty