Priscilla Harris Braislin Merrick (July 1838 – December 15, 1888) was the first mathematics professor at
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely fol ...
.
Early life
Braislin was originally from Burlington, New Jersey,
the eldest of six children. Her father was Catholic and her mother Quaker, but with five of her siblings she became a Baptist; one of her brothers, Edward Braislin (1846–1915), became a Baptist minister.
Vassar
She was hired around 1865 to teach mathematics at Vassar, within the Department of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy and Chemistry. When the head of the department, Charles Farrar, stepped down in 1874, Braislin became the chair of the newly formed Department of Mathematics, and appointed as an instructor of mathematics.
In 1875 she was elected as professor of mathematics. She was the first professor in the department and the first female professor at Vassar, in addition to being (after Susan Jane Cunningham at
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College ( , ) is a private liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeducational colleges in the United States. It was established as ...
in 1871) one of the first female professors of mathematics in the US.
She resigned in 1887, to marry Timothy Merrick, a wealthy businessman in
Holyoke, Massachusetts
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfield ...
. She died of heart disease at her Holyoke home the following year. On December 18, 1888, her funeral was held in Holyoke.