Jane Kister facts for kids

Jane Elizabeth Kister (born Jane Bridge) was a very smart mathematician and editor. She was born in England in 1944. Later, she became an American citizen. She worked for many years at Mathematical Reviews. This is a place that reviews math papers.

Early Life and Learning

Jane Bridge was born in Weybridge, England, on October 18, 1944. Her father was a lawyer. When she was four, her family moved to London. Jane went to St Paul's Girls' School there.

She started studying math at Somerville College, Oxford in 1963. Her studies were paused for a short time due to illness. She started again in 1964. Her tutor was Anne Cobbe. Jane did very well in her studies. She even won a special math prize. She then continued her studies at Oxford to earn a higher degree.

In 1969, she received a special research fellowship. She finished her doctorate degree (D. Phil.) in 1972. Her main teacher was Robin Gandy. After this, she became a math teacher at Somerville College. She took over Anne Cobbe's job after Anne retired. She also worked at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford. There, she worked with other famous mathematicians like Dana Scott.

Marriage and Career

In 1977, a mathematician named James Kister visited Oxford. He was from the University of Michigan. Jane and James got married in 1978. Jane then moved to the United States with him. She left her job at Oxford. In 1992, she became a citizen of the U.S.

She worked for a short time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Then, in 1979, she started working at Mathematical Reviews. She stayed there for the rest of her career. In 1984, she became an associate editor. By 1998, she was the executive editor. She was the first woman to hold this important position.

In 1996, Mathematical Reviews changed. It went from being a paper journal to an online database called MathSciNet. Jane Kister played a big part in making this happen. She also taught as a professor at the University of Michigan.

Jane retired in 2004. She passed away on December 1, 2019, from a heart attack.

Books She Wrote

As Jane Bridge, she wrote a book called Beginning Model Theory: The Completeness Theorem and Some Consequences. It was published in 1977. This was the first book in a series about logic. She also helped edit another book. It was called Ω-Bibliography of Mathematical Logic, Volume VI: Proof Theory, Constructive Mathematics. This book came out in 1987.