Deborah Tepper Haimo facts for kids

Deborah Tepper Haimo (1921–2007) was a very smart American mathematician. She even became the president of a big math group called the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). Her work in math involved studying things like how heat spreads and other complex math ideas.

Her Early Life and School Days

Deborah Haimo was born on July 1, 1921, in a city called Odessa, which was in the Soviet Union back then. When she was a child, her family lived in a place called the British Mandate of Palestine for a few years. Then, when she was 11, her family moved to the United States.

She went to the Girls' Latin School in Boston. It was there, when she was in her second year of high school, that she first got really excited about math. She was studying Euclidean geometry, which is about shapes and spaces.

College and Discovering Math

After high school, Deborah went to Radcliffe College. At first, she thought she would study physics. She believed that studying math would only lead to a job as a school teacher. Back then, teachers often lost their jobs if they got married.

However, she found that physics experiments sometimes had unexpected problems. She felt that in math, "we have control over our assumptions." This made her realize she preferred math.

While at Radcliffe, she could take advanced math classes at Harvard University. She learned from famous mathematicians like Hassler Whitney and Saunders Mac Lane. In one of these classes, she met her future husband, Franklin Tepper Haimo. She graduated in 1943 with two degrees in mathematics.

Her Career and Advanced Studies

After college, Deborah Haimo taught math at several schools. These included Lake Erie College, Northeastern University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Southern Illinois University. During this time, she also raised five children!

She took a break from her own studies for ten years. But she later went back to school to get her Ph.D., which is a very high degree. She earned her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1964. Her special project was about "Integral Equations Associated With Hankel Convolutions."

Leading in Mathematics

After getting her Ph.D., she became a full professor at Southern Illinois University. In 1968, she moved to the University of Missouri–St. Louis and soon became the head of the math department there.

A big achievement for her was becoming the president of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) from 1991 to 1992. She was only the third woman to hold this important position. As president, she started a teaching award and worked hard to encourage more women to study math.

She retired in 1992 and moved to La Jolla, California. Even in retirement, she continued her work as a visiting scholar at the University of California, San Diego. Deborah Tepper Haimo passed away on May 17, 2007.

Awards and Special Recognitions

Deborah Haimo received many awards for her contributions to mathematics:

• In 1991, Franklin & Marshall College gave her an honorary doctorate degree.
• She was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1996. This is a special honor for scientists.
• In 1997, she received the Yueh-Gin Gung and Dr. Charles Y. Hu Award. This award is given for outstanding service to the Mathematical Association of America.