Joanne Elliott facts for kids

Joanne Elliott (born December 5, 1925 – died March 5, 2023) was an American mathematician. She was known for her work in a field called potential theory, which studies things like gravity and electricity. People who knew her said she was a "disciple" of William Feller, a famous mathematician who studied probability theory. Elliott was also a professor at Rutgers University.

Early Life and Education

Joanne Elliott was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on December 5, 1925. She went to Brown University and finished her studies there in 1947.

She continued her education at Cornell University. She earned her Ph.D. (a very high university degree) in 1950. She was one of the "outstanding graduate students" at Cornell after World War II. Her main project, called a dissertation, was about special math problems known as "singular integral equations." Her professor, Harry Pollard, helped her with this work.

Her Teaching Career

After finishing her Ph.D., Elliott taught at a few different colleges. She spent a year at Swarthmore College. Then, from 1952 to 1956, she was an assistant professor at Mount Holyoke College.

In 1956, she moved to Barnard College. While there, in 1958, she helped Doris Stockton get her doctorate degree at Brown University. In 1961, when she was an associate professor at Barnard, she received money from the National Science Foundation. This funding allowed her to do more research at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. She also worked at the Institute for Defense Analyses in Princeton in the early 1960s.

At Rutgers University

Joanne Elliott joined Rutgers University in 1964. At that time, Rutgers had more female professors in its math department than many other universities. One of her students at Rutgers was Edward R. Dougherty, who later became a well-known professor of electrical engineering.

Elliott became the head of the Rutgers mathematics department. She held this important leadership role from 1974 to 1977. She retired from Rutgers in 1991. The university was offering early retirement to its employees to save money that year.

Later Life

Joanne Elliott passed away in Titusville, New Jersey, on March 5, 2023. She was 97 years old.