Susan Cunningham

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Susan J. Cunningham

Susan Jane Cunningham (born March 23, 1842 in Virginia , † January 24, 1921 ) was an American mathematician , astronomer and university teacher . She received her first honorary doctorate in science from Swarthmore College in 1888 , where she had been a professor since 1871.

life and work

Cunningham studied mathematics and astronomy with Maria Mitchell at Vassar College from 1866 to 1867 . She also studied these subjects for several summers at Harvard University , Princeton University , Newnham College in Cambridge , the Royal Greenwich Observatory in England and Williams College . In 1869 she was one of the founders of the departments of mathematics and astronomy at Swarthmore College and headed both departments until her retirement in 1906. She was the first female professor of astronomy and from 1871 professor of mathematics at the college. In 1888 she was chairman of the mathematics department and in that year she received permission to plan and equip the first observatory in Swarthmore. The astronomy department was located in this building and she lived there until she retired. It became known as the Cunningham Observatory , and although it is no longer used as an observatory, it is known as the Cunningham Building. In 1888 she received her first honorary doctorate in science from Swarthmore College. In 1890 she was a founding member of the British Astronomical Association. In 1891 she was elected a member of the New York Mathematical Society (later American Mathematical Society ) and was one of the first six women to join this organization. In 1891 she was also a member of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific . When she retired in 1906, as the college president pointed out on the occasion, Cunningham was the only professor in Swarthmore who had been there from the start.

Susan Cunningham died of heart failure on January 24, 1921. The funeral service took place on campus at Swarthmore College Meeting House and was attended by celebrities including the Pennsylvania businessman and then Governor William Cameron Sproul and Pennsylvania State Health Commissioner Edward Martin . As early as 1906, at Cunningham's suggestion, Sproul had financed the establishment of a new observatory in Swarthmore that met research standards. Swarthmore's student newspaper The Phoenix wrote in an obituary that Susan Cunningham had "looked after more students in Swarthmore than anyone else."

literature

  • Mary Elizabeth Williams papers. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College.
  • "List of Members of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. The University of Chicago Press. 3, 1891.
  • Schlup, Leonard C .; Ryan, James G .: Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age. Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe. p. 546, 2003, ISBN 978-0-7656-0331-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Elizabeth Weber: The Cunningham Building: Swarthmore's Other Observatory . In: The Phoenix . Swarthmore November 15, 1996 ( online at swarthmore.edu [accessed July 19, 2020]).
  2. ↑ Larry Riddle: Susan Jane Cunningham. In: Biographies of Women Mathematicians. Agnes Scott College , accessed July 19, 2020 (English, short biography).
  3. ^ A b c Betsey S. Whitman: Women in the American Mathematical Society before 1900. Part 1 . In: Anne Leggett (Ed.): Association for Women in Mathematics Newsletter . No. 13 . Chicago, IL 1983, pp. 10–14 (English, digitized as PDF on drivehq.com ).
personal data
SURNAME Cunningham, Susan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cunningham, Susan Jane (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American mathematician, astronomer and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH March 23, 1842
PLACE OF BIRTH Virginia
DATE OF DEATH January 24, 1921