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Mary de Lellis Gough

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Mary de Lellis Gough
Born
Mary de Lellis

(1892-02-15)February 15, 1892
DiedApril 7, 1983(1983-04-07) (aged 91)
Alma materCatholic University of America
Occupation(s)Nun and teacher
EmployerIncarnate Word College
OrganizationSisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word

Sister Mary de Lellis Gough (15 February 1892 – 7 April 1983) was an Irish nun who spent most of her life in the USA. She is notable for being the earliest known Irish woman to earn a doctorate in mathematics.

Life

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She was born in Kilmore, County Wexford, Ireland. Her parents were Ellen Dunne and Walter Gough. She attended the local St John of God's primary school.[1] She emigrated to Texas in 1909 with a group of young Irish women, and joined the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, taking vows as Mary de Lellis in 1911.[2]

Career

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While working as a high school teacher, she studied at the Catholic University of America. She graduated in 1920, earned a master's degree in 1923, and completed her PhD from the same university in 1931.[2] Her PhD dissertation was entitled On the condition for the existence of triangles in and circumscribed to certain types of the rational quartic curve and having a common side and supervised by Aubrey E. Landry.[2][3]

She taught mathematics at Incarnate Word College from 1920 to 1943.[2] In 1953, she coined the term "mathephobia" based on her observations of her students.[4]

In 1944, she left teaching due to health issues and returned to Texas where she worked as an accountant at a local hospital in Fort Worth. She retired in 1964.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "International Women's Day: Wexford nun is the inspiration behind new Phd in SETU". www.independent.ie. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Supplementary Material For Pioneering Women In American Mathematics: The Pre-1940 Phd’s by Judy Green And Jeanne Laduke at AMS
  3. ^ Mary de Lellis Gough at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  4. ^ Wen, Tiffanie. "The myth of being 'bad' at maths". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2023-05-14.