Mary Fama facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mary Fama
|
|
|---|---|
| Born |
Mary Elizabeth Duncan
23 October 1938 |
| Died | 6 July 2021 (aged 82) Hastings, New Zealand
|
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Spouse(s) |
Peter Fama
(m. 1968) |
| Children | 4 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Applied mathematics |
| Institutions | DSIR CSIRO |
| Thesis | The effect of a ring stiffener on the stress in a cylindrical shell with a longitudinal crack (1967) |
Mary Elizabeth Fama (born 23 October 1938 – died 6 July 2021) was an important New Zealand applied mathematician. She was known for her work on how rocks behave under pressure. This work was very useful in the field of mining.
Mary Fama developed a special way to figure out how tunnels in mines would change shape. This method is often called the Duncan-Fama solution. It helps engineers understand how much a tunnel might squeeze or expand.
Mary Fama's Early Life and Studies
Mary Fama was born in Windsor, England, on October 23, 1938. Her family was Catholic and had five children. Her father was from New Zealand and worked as an army officer. When Mary was ten, her family moved back to New Zealand. They lived in the Wellington area.
Mary went to a boarding school in Scotland for a while. Later, she attended Erskine College in Wellington, New Zealand. She was very good at mathematics there.
She earned her first bachelor's degree at the University of Canterbury. Then, she went on to get a second bachelor's degree from the University of Oxford in England.
Her Career in Science
In 1962, Mary Fama started working as a researcher. She joined the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) in New Zealand.
In 1964, she received a special scholarship called a Fulbright scholarship. This allowed her to study at Harvard University in the United States. She completed her PhD, which is a high-level university degree, there in 1967.
In 1968, Mary married Peter Fama. They moved to Sydney, Australia. Mary became a junior lecturer at the University of Sydney. In 1970, they returned to New Zealand. Mary went back to her research job at the DSIR.
She also worked as a temporary senior lecturer at the University of Waikato in 1980.
In 1983, Mary and her husband moved back to Australia. Mary became a senior scientist for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Brisbane. She was one of the first women scientists at that center. She retired in 2010. After retiring, she moved back to New Zealand with her husband. They settled in Havelock North.
Mary Fama's Family Life
Mary Fama married Peter Fama, an Australian psychiatrist, in 1968. They had four children together.
Mary Fama passed away in Hastings, New Zealand, on July 6, 2021.
