Kathleen Ollerenshaw facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dame
Kathleen Ollerenshaw
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Ollerenshaw signing a book in the Alan Turing Building
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| Born |
Kathleen Mary Timpson
1 October 1912 Withington, Manchester, England
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| Died | 10 August 2014 (aged 101) Didsbury, England
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| Alma mater | Somerville College, Oxford |
| Spouse(s) |
Robert Ollerenshaw
(m. 1939; |
| Children | 2 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Magic square Lattices |
| Institutions | University of Manchester |
| Thesis | (1945) |
| Doctoral advisor | Theodore William Chaundy |
Dame Kathleen Mary Ollerenshaw (born Kathleen Mary Timpson, 1 October 1912 – 10 August 2014) was a brilliant British mathematician and a very important politician. She served as the Lord Mayor of Manchester from 1975 to 1976. She also advised Margaret Thatcher's government on education in the 1980s.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Kathleen Mary Timpson was born in Withington, Manchester, England. She went to Lady Barn House School from 1918 to 1926. Her grandfather started the Timpson shoe repair business. He moved to Manchester from Kettering and opened his business there by 1870.
Kathleen loved mathematics from a young age. Her headmistress at Lady Barn, Miss Jenkin Jones, who had studied math at Cambridge, inspired her greatly. While at Lady Barn, she also met Robert Ollerenshaw, who would later become her husband.
Overcoming Challenges
When Kathleen was eight years old, she became completely deaf. She learned to lip-read so she could understand people. She found that studying mathematics was perfect for her, as it didn't depend on hearing.
University Studies
As a young woman, she attended St Leonards School in St Andrews, Scotland. Today, a house for young male students there is named after her. At 19, she was accepted into Somerville College, Oxford, to study mathematics.
She earned her doctorate degree in 1945. Her research was on "Critical Lattices," and her supervisor was Theo Chaundy. She wrote five original research papers, which were enough for her to get her DPhil degree.
Family Life
While at university, she got engaged to Robert Ollerenshaw. He became a respected military surgeon and a pioneer in medical illustration. They got married in September 1939. They had two children, Charles (born 1941) and Florence (born 1946). Sadly, both her children and her husband passed away before her.
Her Amazing Career
After World War II, Kathleen and Robert Ollerenshaw moved to Manchester. Kathleen worked as a part-time lecturer in the mathematics department at Manchester University. She continued her work on lattices while raising her children. In 1949, when she was 37, she got her first effective hearing aid.
Public Service
Outside of her academic work, Kathleen Ollerenshaw was very active in public life. She was a Conservative Councillor for Rusholme for 25 years (1954–1979). She was also a member of the city council's finance committee and chairman of the education committee for the Association of Municipal Corporations.
She became the Lord Mayor of Manchester from 1975 to 1976. She was also the High Sheriff of Greater Manchester from 1978 to 1979. She played a key role in creating the Royal Northern College of Music. She was given the Freedom of the City of Manchester. She also advised Margaret Thatcher's government on education in the 1980s.
Mathematics and Astronomy
She was the President of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications from 1978 to 1979. She published at least 26 mathematical papers. Her most famous work was on "most-perfect pandiagonal magic squares." These are special grids of numbers where all rows, columns, and diagonals add up to the same total.
When she passed away, she left money to support research visitors and public events at the School of Mathematics, University of Manchester. An annual public lecture at the university is named in her honor.
Kathleen was also an amateur astronomer. She loved looking at the stars. She donated her telescope to Lancaster University, and an observatory there is named after her. She was an honorary member and vice-president of the Manchester Astronomical Society for many years.
Later Years
She continued to be involved with St Leonards School in St Andrews, serving as its president from 1981 to 2003. She lived a long life, turning 100 in October 2012.
Kathleen Ollerenshaw died in Didsbury on 10 August 2014, at the age of 101.
Honors and Legacy
- In 1970, Kathleen Ollerenshaw was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. This was for her important contributions to education.
- The famous composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies dedicated his Naxos Quartet No.9 to her.
See also
In Spanish: Kathleen Ollerenshaw para niños
