Florence Eliza Allen (1876–1960) was an American mathematician and women's suffrage activist. [1] [2] In 1907 she became the second woman to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the fourth Ph.D. overall from that department.
Allen was born in Horicon, Wisconsin on October 4, 1876. [3] She had an older brother and her father was a lawyer.
Florence Allen received her bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin in 1900. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa as an undergrad, and Delta Delta Delta as a Ph.D. [1] [2] She held leadership positions in a fine arts and literary society for women. She stayed at the University of Wisconsin as a resident and received her master's degree in 1901. [4]
Florence Allen continued to work at the University of Wisconsin as an assistant and became an instructor in 1902. [5] She received her doctorate in 1907 in geometry, [6] after which she remained at UW–Madison; she became an assistant professor in 1945, and retired in 1947 as an assistant professor emeritus. [4]
She was a member of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters and had an entry in the 1914 Woman's Who's Who of America where she confirmed that she favored women's suffrage. [4]
She died December 31, 1960, at the age of 84 in Madison, Wisconsin and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Horicon, Wisconsin. [3] [4]