Nancy Cole (October 15, 1902 – July 7, 1991) was an American mathematician who made important and pioneering contributions to Morse theory.

Early life and education

Cole was the daughter of a Boston grocer and the descendant of Mayflower immigrants. As a high school student in

Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth (; historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as ...

, her interest in mathematics was sparked by teacher Lucia Richardson. She studied at Jackson College, the women's sister school of Tufts University, from 1920 to 1922, mentored there by mathematician

Edith Bush Edith Linwood Bush (September 15, 1882 – November 3, 1977) was an American mathematician. She was the high school mathematics teacher of her younger brother, Vannevar Bush, before becoming dean of the Jackson College for Women at Tufts Universi ...

, before transferring to Vassar College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in 1924. She returned to study at

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

in 1926, earned a master's degree at Radcliffe in 1929, and completed her Ph.D. in 1934. Her dissertation, ''The Index Form Associated with an Extremaloid'', was supervised by Marston Morse, and she was acknowledged by Morse for her assistance in preparing his 1934 book ''The Calculus of Variations'', which began the study of Morse theory.

Career and later life

Between finishing at Vassar and beginning graduate study at Radcliffe, Cole taught college preparatory courses in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, and while at Radcliffe she worked as an instructor at Vassar in 1927–1928 and at Wells College in 1931–1932 before taking a faculty position at

Sweet Briar College Sweet Briar College is a private women's college in Sweet Briar, Virginia. It was established in 1901 by Indiana Fletcher Williams in memory of her deceased daughter, Daisy. The college formally opened its doors in 1906 and granted the B.A. deg ...

in 1933, taking a position previously held by Ethel Moody and working at Sweet Briar with

Eugenie Maria Morenus Eugenie Maria Morenus (February 21, 1881 – October 15, 1966) was an American mathematician and college professor. She taught Latin and mathematics at Sweet Briar College from 1909 to 1946. Early life and education Morenus was born in Clevel ...

. During World War II, she moved from Sweet Briar to Kenyon College, where from 1943 to 1944 she taught mathematics for the Army. After working from 1944 to 1947 at the

Connecticut College for Women Connecticut College (Conn College or Conn) is a private liberal arts college in New London, Connecticut. It is a residential, four-year undergraduate institution with nearly all of its approximately 1,815 students living on campus. The college w ...

, she became an assistant professor of mathematics at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in 1947. She was promoted to associate professor in 1952, and retired as associate professor emeritus in 1971. She died of a heart attack on July 7, 1991, in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Recognition

Cole was named a Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

in 1950.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Nancy 1902 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians American women mathematicians Vassar College alumni Radcliffe College alumni Vassar College faculty Wells College faculty Sweet Briar College faculty Kenyon College faculty Connecticut College faculty Syracuse University faculty Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 20th-century American women