Marjorie L. Van Eenam Butcher (1925–2016) was an American mathematician, the first female faculty member in mathematics 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 ...
and the first female faculty member at
Trinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity College is a private liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Founded as Washington College in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut. Coeducational since 1969, the college enrolls 2,2 ...
.
Life
Van Eenam was the older of two children of Weltha McLachlan and Neil Van Eenam, born July 24, 1925, in
Jackson, Michigan
Jackson is a city in Jackson County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 31,309 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along Interstate 94 in Michigan, Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127 in Michigan, U.S ...
. Her mother was an actuary and graduate of the University of Michigan, and her father was a civil engineer.
She graduated
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, ...
from the University of Michigan in 1947, and continued at the University of Michigan for a master's degree in
actuarial mathematics
Actuarial science is the discipline that applies mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk in insurance, pension, finance, investment and other industries and professions.
Actuaries are professionals trained in this discipline. In ma ...
in 1949. She became a trainee at an insurance firm, but in 1952 she was hired as an instructor of mathematics at the University of Michigan, the first woman to teach mathematics at the university, and she continued there (as Marjorie Butcher after her 1954 to mathematician Robert W. Butcher) through 1956.
She moved to Trinity College in 1956, as an adjunct professor of mathematics, becoming their first female faculty member, and was promoted to full professor in 1979, becoming their first female full professor. She retired in 1989, and died on April 6, 2016.
Book
With
Cecil J. Nesbitt, Butcher was the coauthor of an updated edition of the book ''Mathematics of Compound Interest'' (1971), which Nesbitt had previously published with Carl Hahn Fischer in 1943.
Recognition
In 2009, Trinity college gave Butcher an honorary doctorate.
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Butcher, Marjorie V.
1925 births
2016 deaths
People from Jackson, Michigan
University of Michigan alumni
University of Michigan faculty
Trinity College (Connecticut) faculty