Karen Parshall facts for kids

Karen Hunger Parshall was born in Virginia in 1955. She is a famous American historian of mathematics. This means she studies the history of math! She teaches both history and mathematics at the University of Virginia. She holds a special title there called Commonwealth Professor. She has also held important leadership roles at the university. For example, she was an Associate Dean and the chair of the History Department.

Her Journey in Education

Karen Parshall studied at the University of Virginia. She earned two degrees there, one in French and one in mathematics. Later, in 1978, she got her master's degree in math from the same university.

In 1982, she earned her PhD in history from the University of Chicago. Her main research was about the history of a math topic called algebras. She looked closely at the work of a mathematician named Joseph Wedderburn.

Teaching and Research Career

After finishing her studies, Karen Parshall became a professor. She taught at Sweet Briar College and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Since 1988, she has been teaching at the University of Virginia. She teaches math, the history of math, and the history of science.

She has also been a visiting professor in other countries. She taught at the Australian National University in Canberra. She also visited universities in Paris, France, like the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.

What She Studies

Karen Parshall is an expert in the history of mathematics. She especially focuses on how math grew in the United States. This includes the late 1800s and early 1900s. She has studied the "Chicago School" of mathematics.

For example, she looked at the work of Leonard Dickson. He was a mathematician influenced by German thinkers like Felix Klein. This happened around the time of the Columbian Exposition of 1893. She also studies the history of algebra. She even wrote a book about the life of a mathematician named James Joseph Sylvester.

Awards and Honors

Karen Parshall has received many important awards for her work. In 1996/97, she was a Guggenheim Fellow. This is a special award given to people who do great work in their field.

In 1994, she was invited to speak at a big math meeting. This was the International Congress of Mathematicians in Switzerland. Since 2002, she has been a member of the International Academy of the History of Science in Paris. From 1996 to 1999, she was the editor of a math history magazine called Historia Mathematica.

In 2012, she became a special member of the American Mathematical Society. In 2018, she won the Albert Leon Whiteman Memorial Prize. This award recognized her amazing work in math history. It especially noted her studies on how math grew in the U.S. and the history of algebra. It also honored her work in helping the field internationally.

In 2020, she was chosen as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This shows her important contributions to mathematics.

Her Books and Papers

Karen Parshall has written many important books and articles. Here are some of them:

• Eliakim Hastings Moore and the Founding of a Mathematical Community in America, 1892–1902 (1984)
• Joseph H. M. Wedderburn and the Structure Theory of Algebras (1985)
• The Art of Algebra from al-Khwarizmi to Viète: a Study in the Natural Selection of Ideas (1988)
• With David E. Rowe: The Emergence of the American Mathematical Research Community 1876–1900: J. J. Sylvester, Felix Klein, and E. H. Moore (1994)
• James Joseph Sylvester: Life and Work in Letters (1998)
• With Adrian C. Rice (eds.): Mathematics Unbound: The Evolution of an International Mathematical Research Community, 1800–1945 (2002)
• With Jeremy J. Gray (eds.): Episodes in the History of Modern Algebra (1800–1950) (2007)
• James Joseph Sylvester: Jewish Mathematician in a Victorian World (2006)
• With Victor J. Katz: Taming the Unknown: History of algebra from antiquity to the early twentieth century (2014)