née Hyman. Born January 24, 1943, Montreal, Quebec. Died 1973,
St. Catharines, Ontario. Rosalind graduated with first class honours Bachelor
of Arts from McGill University, Montreal in 1963. After her marriage she
continued her education graduating with a Masters from the University of
Rochester, New York, U.S.A. in 1965. The couple returned to Montreal so
Rosalind could continue her studies earning a Doctorate (PhD) in 1971. The
following year the couple were both on faculty at Brock University, St.
Catharines, Ontario, where Rosalind was a founding member of the Department
of Economics. The couple adopted a son. In 1972 she took leave
from Brock University and worked with the New Democratic Party (N D P) of
Manitoba as director of economic analysis in the Cabinet Policy Secretariat.
After giving birth to a son in 1973 she fell into a coma and died a month
later. In September 1975 Brock University opened the Rosalind Blauer Centre
for Child Care.
Source: Brock women who made - and changed - the University's
history, Brock University, Online, (accessed 2024)
Agatha Louisa Chapman
3976
Born May 6, 1907, England. Died October 17,
1963, Montreal, Quebec. At the end of World War 1 (1914-1918) Agatha immigrated to Canada where
she felt she had a connection with her uncle having been Lieutenant Governor
of Manitoba and her great grandfather had been a Father of Confederation.
Agatha earned her Bachelor of Arts in commerce from the University of
British Columbia where she also went on to earn a Masters degree in 1931.
She started her working career with and insurance company prior to working
with the Bank of Canada starting in 1940. She was one of the first women
economists working for the Bank. In 1942 she was seconded to the Dominion
Bureau of Statistics (now Statistics Canada) to help develop Canada's
national accounts. She soon became one of Canada's leading experts in the
field. She was the only woman attending the firs United Nations
Sub-Committee on National Income Statistics held in 1945. In July 1946 she
was identified as a member of a communist cell transmitting secrets to the
Soviet Union and was suspended from her job. Her trial case was dismissed
for lack of evidence but she was ostracized from the Canadian Civil Service.
She was hired to work at Cambridge University in England on the
recommendation of her former Canadian boss. She authored Wages and
Salaries in the United Kingdom 1920-1938 published by the University. After three years in England she returned to Canada to live and work in
Montreal where she married. She was never achieved her former prominence as
an economist and sadly jumped to her death from her apartment.
Source: The Trial of Agatha Chapman, by James Powell, Today in Ottawa's
History, Online
(accessed 2022)
Cyrpra Cecilia Krieger
r13
Born April 9, 1894, Jaslo Poland. Died August
17, 1974, Toronto, Ontario. After Cecilia had finished her high school the
family relocated to Austria. In 1920 Cecelia came to Canada after she had
completed her first year at the University of Vienna in Austria. . Learning
English, she worked summers at an inn in Muskoka, Ontario. In 1924 she
graduated with her Bachelor of Arts from the University or Toronto and the
following year she completed her Master's Degree.
In 1930 Cecilia was the first woman to earn a
Doctorate (PhD) in Mathematics in Canada
when she graduated from the University of Toronto and only the third
person to receive such a degree in Canada. She would go on to teach
mathematics and physics at the University of Toronto for over 30 years. She
would spend ten years as a lecturer prior to being promoted to an assistant
professor in 1941. She is remembered for translating mathematical texts. In
1948 she was invited to lecture at the University of British Columbia. She
helped female students through her work with the Canadian Association of
University Women's Fellowship Committee. In 1958 she married Dr. Zygmunt
Dunaij, a Holocaust survivor. She retired from the U of T in 1961 but
continued to teach there for an additional five years. As well as helping to
support her family over the decades she als helped refugee Jewish families
who were fleeing persecution in Europe during World War ll
(1939-1945). After the death of her husband in 1968 she taught at Upper
Canada College in Toronto. In 1995 the Krieger-Nelson Prize was created by
the Canadian Mathematical Society to honour Cecelia Krieger and Evelyn
Nelson. Cecelia's papers are part of the collections of the U of T Archives.
Source: Canadian Encyclopedia, Online, (accessed 2023)
Judith Maxwell
Born
July 21, 1943, Kingston, Ontario. Judith attended Dalhousie
University, Halifax, Nova Scotia earning her Bachelor of Commerce
Degree in 1963. She studied at the London School of Economics in
England from 1965-1966. On May 8 1970 she married Anthony Stirling
and the couple have 2 children. She worked as a researcher
with the Combines Investigation Branch of the Federal Department of
Consumer and Corporate Affairs until 1965. She worked as an economist
and writer for the Financial Times of Canada from 1966 through 1972
and then was Director of Policy Studies at the C.D. Howe Institute
until 1980. She worked with the Economic Council of Canada from
1985-1992 prior to becoming Associate Director of the School of
Policy Studies at Queen’s University, Kingston and Executive
Director of Queen’s-University of Ottawa Economic Projects in
1992-1994. She was a member of Ontario Premier’s Council from
1998-1990. She has authored several books the economics and social
role of government. In 1996 she was inducted into the Order of
Canada. She was a founding president of the Canadian Policy Research
Networks until she retired in 2005. She is a member of the Board of
Governors of the Community Foundation of Ottawa and is part of a
group of volunteers working to establish a Citizens Academy of
Ottawa.
(2020)
Evelyn Marie Nelson
r 14
née Roden.Born November 25, 1943, Hamilton, Ontario. Died August
1, 1987, Hamilton, Ontario. Evelyn began her university studies
at the University of Toronto but after two years she switched to
McMaster University in Hamilton. She had married Mort Nelson, a
fellow student at McMaster. By 1965 she had earned her Bachelor
of Science in mathematics and continued her studies earning her
Master's Degree in 1967. Her Master's thesis was published in
the Canadian Journal of Mathematics. By 1970 she had obtained
her doctorate (PhD) and her thesis was the bases for an article
once again in the Canadian Journal of Mathematics. She remained
at McMaster as a post-doctoral researcher and in 1978 she was
appointed as an Associate Professor. In 1982 she became Head of
the Computer Science at McMaster. The following year she became
a full professor. With over 40 published papers in her field she
made contributions in universal algebra with applications
to theoretical Computer science.
In 1995 the Krieger-Nelson Prize was created by the Canadian
Mathematical Society to honour Cecelia Krieger and Evelyn
Nelson. The McMaster Department of Mathematics offers the Evelyn
Nelson Lectures. Source: Canadian Encyclopedia,
Online (accessed 2017)
Sylvia Ostry
SEE - Politicians and Public Servants
Mary 'Phyllis' Marie Ross
3977
née
Gregory.
Born June 29, 1904, Rossland, British Columbia. Died April 18,
1988, Saltspring Island, British Columbia. Phyllis graduated
with first class honours in economics and political science from
the University of British Columbia (U B C) in 1925. She then went to
Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. to earn her
Masters in 1927. She would also study at the London School of
Economics, England, and the University of Marburg, Germany. In
1928 she married Leonard Hugh Turner in London, England.
The couple had three children. After the death of her husband
when she was just 29 she returned to live with her parents in
Rossland, British Columbia. She soon had a job in Ottawa,
Ontario working as a public servant working with the Canadian
Tariff Board, the Dominion Trade and Industry Commission and the
Wartime Prices and Trade Board. Talented and dedicated as she
was she would only ever receive two-thirds of the salary of a
man in the same working position. For her work in helping
the economy of Canada during World War ll (1939-1945) she was
awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 1945
she married Frank Mackenzie Ross (1891-1971), who would serve as
Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia from 1955-1960. From
1951 to 1954 she sat as a member of the Senate of the University
of British Columbia and then from 1960 to 1966. In 1961
she became U B C's first woman chancellor. In 1967 she receive the
Medal of Service of the Order of Canada and was later appointed as an
Officer of the Order of Canada. She was also a Dame of the St. John of
Jerusalem and a Dame of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Her son John
Napier Wyndham Turner(1929-2020) would become the 17th Prime Minister of
Canada. Source: The British Columbia Archival Information
Network, Online (accessed 2022); Find a Grave, Online, (accessed
2022)
Lise Salvas -Bronsard
3980
Born 1940. Died August 1995. Lise earned a Master of Arts in
economics from Université Laval in 1965 and that same years received a pre
doctoral Canada council grant to study in the humanities social sciences and
fine arts. By 1966 she was working at the Bureau d'amenagment de test du
Québec. She continued her studies in Belgium earning a doctorate at
the Université de Louvain in 1972. She was well published in articles for
journals and boos in the field of economics. Back in Quebec by 1970 she was
working on the faculty of the Université de Montréal teaching economics and
macroeconomics. She worked as a visiting scholar at the Centre for
Operations Research and Economics, Belgium and the Institut national de la statistique et des études
économique, France. She was a member of the Canadian
Economics Association (C E A), She was an associate editor of the Canadian
Journal of Economics which is bilingual. She married Camille Bronsard and
the couple had two children. Source:
Obituary, by Marcel Dagenais, Canadian Journal of Economics vol. 29 N0. 3
August 1966 pp 757-759, Online (accessed 2022)
Margaret Patricia Sinclair
4229
née Pocock. Born February 21, 1950. Died February 21,
2012, Toronto, Ontario. Margaret earned her Bachelor of Arts and her
Master's degrees. She married Larry Sinclair and the couple had five
children. Margaret taught for 15 years and served as vice principal with the
Toronto Catholic District School Board. When her children were grown she
returned to school to earn her Doctorate at the Ontario Institute for
Studies in Education (O I S E). She worked at York University as a Professor
in the Math Education Department. Her love of mathematics allowed her
to follow her passion of teaching, researching and publishing.
Source: Obituary, Toronto Star, Online (accessed 2023)
née Mamanuwartum. Born 1818?, Normandy House Northwest
Territories (Now Manitoba). Died 1910?, Alberta. Jessie married Henry Bird
Steinhauer, an Ojibwa. They met while he worked as a teacher and interpreter
for the Methodist church at Norway House. Henry would become a Methodist
convert and the first Indigenous ordained Methodist Minister shortly after
the young couple met. The couple had twelve children. In 1855 they
were living in Lac La Biche (now in Alberta) to establish a mission and by
1857 they were in Fish Lake on the Saskatchewan River to establish a
mission.
(2023)
Edith M. Whyte
Replacement 13
Born 1937? Ottawa. Died 1980, Ottawa, Ontario.
In 1948 Edith earned her Bachelor of Arts from Queen's University,
Kingston, Ontario. She began working for the Bank of Canada holding
various positions from Assistant Chief of Research from 1966 through 1971,
Chief the International Department from 1974 through 1977, then Chief of the
Computer Department. She was an Associate Advisor and being part of
the police-making body at the band and was the highest ranking women. She
served as president of the Victorian Order of Nurses (V O N), Ottawa Branch
and went on to serve on the national executive. She also served on the
Queen's University Council. The Edith Whyte Memorial Book Prizes in
intermediate Macroeconomic Theory and the Edith White Memorial Scholarships
in Economics which are awarded to university students were established by
her family and friends at Queen University in Kingston.
Source: QED Builders, Queen's University Economic Department online
(accessed 2024); not on find a grave 2024)
Mathematicians
Agnes Sime
Baxter-Hill
née Baxter. Born March 18, 1879, Halifax, Nova
Scotia. Died March 9, 1917, Columbia, Missouri, U.S.A. In 1891 Agnes was
the first woman to receive a degree from Dalhousie University in Mathematics.
She also won the Sir William Young Gold Medal for being the undergraduate
with the highest standing of honours student in mathematics and mathematical
physics. By 1892 she had earned the Master's Degree. She earned a fellowship
and went on earning her Doctoral Degree (PhD) at Cornell University, New York, U.S.A. She was
the fourth woman to receive a PhD in Mathematics in North America and the
second woman to do so in Canada. August 20 1896 she married Dr. Ross Hill.
The couple settled in Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.A. where she supported her her
husband in his teaching career at the university. The couple had two
daughters. After her death, Ross Hill donated donated funds to Dalhousie to
set up a collection of books in mathematics. In 1988 Dalhousie University
dedicated the Agnes Baxter Reading Room in the Department of Mathematics,
Statistics and Computing Science.
Source: D C B, Online (accessed 2020)
Louise Duffield
Cummings
Born November 21, 1870, Hamilton, Ontario. Died May 9,
1947. Following her education at the University of Toronto Louise continued
her studies in mathematics on a fellowship at the University of
Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago and Bryn Mawr College in the U.S.A.
where she would earn her PhD in mathematics in 1914. She was a full
professor at Vassar from 1902 until her retirement in 1936. She contributed
some dozen research papers in leading mathematics journals during her
career. and was a speaker at international meetings of mathematicians.
(2020)
Katherine Heinrich
née Roderick Born February 21, 1954, Murwillumbah,
New South Wales, Australia. Katherine earned her Bachelor of Mathematics and her PhD at the
University of Newcastle, Australia. She started her teaching career at the University
of Arizona and moved to British Columbia in 1980 to work at Simon Fraser
University. She is active in promoting the importance of mathematics and the
need of numerate citizens and encouraging and supporting women in
mathematics and the sciences. She was Chair of the Education committee of
the Canadian Mathematics Society and moved up to be Vice President in 1993
and President in 1996-1998. She is the author of various reports and
numerous articles in her chosen field. in 1995 she received the Vancouver
YWCA Woman of Distinction Award for Health and Education. In 2005 she
earned the Adrien Puliot Award from the Canadian Mathematical Society.
(2020)
Annie MacKinnon
Fitch
Born June 1, 1868, Woodstock, Ontario. Died September 12,
1940, Walton, New York, U.S.A. Annie completed her studies at the masters level at the University of
Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A. and continued in her education in mathematics earning a PhD. from
Cornell University, New York, U.S.A. in 1894. Upon graduation she was
awarded the Association of Collegiate Alumnae European Fellowship to study
mathematics a the Gottingen University. Returning from studies in Europe in 1896 she
began her career at Wells College, Aurora, New York, U.S.A., as professor and Registrar. She was
elected to the American Mathematics Society in 1897. She was also a member
of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the League of
Women Voters. She devoted time and energy to encouraging women to take a
spirited interest in local, state and national communities.
Source: Biographies of Women Mathematicians.
Online (accessed 2004)
Yoshiko 'Yoshi' Kasahara
Asian Canadian
Born March 25, 1912, Tokyo, Japan. Died December 6, 1966,
Ottawa, Ontario. In
1950 she received a scholarship to work in post graduate studies at the
University of Texas, Austin, Texas, U.S.A. She also received an Master's of Arts in mathematics at the
University of Michigan and worked for her Doctorate (PhD) in sociology at the University
of Michigan. Dr Kasahara moved to Canada in 1956 where she joined the
Census Division of Statistics Canada and then the Central Research and
Development Staff. She specialized in demographic research but participated
actively in a large variety of projects. In 1963 she was extremely proud to
become a Canadian citizen. She published numerous papers, distinctive reports, and represented Canada at a number of
international conferences with distinction. The high professional standards
that she applied to her work were also evident in her hobby of photography.
An accomplished linguist she was also a stimulating conversationalist.
Source: Cambridge University Press & Assessment, Online (accessed 2020)
Cecilia Krieger
Born April 9, 1894, Jaslo, Poland. Died August
17, 1974, Ontario. Cecelia began her studies at the University of Vienna, Austria, but moved to the
University of Toronto earning her Bachelor of Arts, Master's of Arts and
Doctorate (PhD) by 1930. She was the
1st woman to earn a Canadian mathematics doctorate. She was a instructor,
lecturer and assistant professor at the University of Toronto retiring only
in 1962. She continued teaching at Upper Canada College, Kingston, Ontario until her death. The
Canadian Mathematical Society now awards the CMS Krieger-Nelson Prize
lectureship for Distinguished Research by Women in Mathematics in honour of
Cecilia Krieger and Evelyn Nelson. She encouraged her students in their
studies in mathematics and engineering and was an active participant in the
Canadian Association of University Women. Cecilia Krieger archival papers
are maintained at the University of Toronto.
Source: Canadian Encyclopedia, Online (accessed 2018)
Cathleen Synge
Morawetz
née Synge. Born May 5, 1923, Toronto, Ontario.
Died August 8, 2017, Greenwich Village, New York, U.S.A. Cathleen
began her studies in mathematics by obtaining her B.A. at the University of
Toronto. She continued her studies by earning a master's degree at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1946 and she earned her PhD. at New
York University in 1951. She has contributed to several esteemed
scientific associations and was the first woman to belong to the Applied
Mathematics Section of the National Academy of Sciences in the United
States. In 1997 she received the Krieger-Nelson Award from the Canadian
Mathematical Society in recognition of her outstanding research.
Married with four children she has been recognized by the National
Organization for Women for combining a successful career and family. In 2004
she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American
Mathematical Society to recognize the cumulative influence of her total
mathematical work.
In 2021 the Canadian Mathematical Society presented the
first Cathleen Synge Morawetz Prize to an author of an outstanding research
publication. Source: In Memorium:
Mathematician Cathleen Synge Morawetz, U of T News, Online (accessed (2017);
The Cathleen Morawetz Prize Online, (accessed 2025)
Evelyn Merle
Nelson
née Roden. Born November 25, 1943, Hamilton, Ontario. Died August 1,
1987, Hamilton, Ontario. Evelyn's parents were Russian immigrants who supported their daughter all
the way through her studies. She began her undergraduate studies at the
University of Toronto in Mathematics-physics-chemistry honours program then
transferred to McMaster University in Hamilton. Shortly after she married
Mort Nelson. She graduated in 1965 at the top of her class and began her
post graduated studies receiving her Master’s degree in 1967 followed in
1970 with a PhD from McMaster. She gave birth to her first child while
writing her thesis which was published in the Canadian Journal ofMathematics. She began a teaching career at McMaster and was promoted to
full professor in 1983. She served as editor of Algebra Universalis. She
also chaired, 1982-1984 the Unit of Computer Science within the mathematics
department at the University. The Canadian Mathematical Society now awards
the CMS Krieger-Nelson Prize for Distinguished Research by Women in
Mathematics in honour of Cecilia Krieger and Evelyn Nelson.Source:
Canadian Encyclopedia, Online ( accessed 2017.)
Nancy Margaret
Reid
Born September 17, 1952, St. Catharines, Ontario.
Starting out in computer studies Nancy soon learned that she preferred
statistics. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from The University of Waterloo
in Ontario, her masters' from the University of British Columbia and her
Doctorate (PhD) from Stanford University ,U.S.A. in 1979. A Professor of
Statistics at the University of Toronto she taught since 1986 and served as
Chair of the department from 1997-2002. An elected member of several
distinguished societies and associations in her field she was the winner of
the President's Award of the Committee of Statistical Societies in 1992. The
award recognized outstanding contribution to the profession of statistics.
She was the first woman to hold a Canada Research chair in statistics.
From 1995 to 1997 she was the Editor-in Chief of the Canadian
Journal of Statistics. In 1995 she was the 1st recipient of the
Krieger-Nelson Prize Lectureship for distinguished research by a woman in
mathematics. In 1996-1997 she served as president of the
Institute of Mathematical Statistics and in 2004 -2005 she was president of
the Statistical Society of Canada. Her efforts led to the creation of the
Canadian Institute for Statistical Sciences in 2012 where she has served as
Director since 2015. In 2018 she became Editor-in-Chief for the Annual
Review of Statistics and its Application. She has produced over 50 journal
publications in statistics as well as three major books in the field. All of
this while being an mother of two children!.