Gerald Gardner (mathematician)
Encyclopedia
Gerald Henry Frazier Gardner (March 2, 1926 – July 25, 2009) was an American
mathematician
, geophysicist
and social activist whose statistical analysis led to the banning of classified advertising
segregated by gender in a 1973 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States
in the case Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations
. On a professional basis, he did early work on the use of monitoring seismological vibrations to identify deposits of natural gas that became industry standards.
, Ireland
, and attended Trinity College
in Dublin, where he majored in physics
and mathematics, graduating in 1948. He moved to the United States, earning a masters in 1949 in applied mathematics
at the Carnegie Institute of Technology
(later known as Carnegie Mellon University
) in 1949 and a Ph.D.
at Princeton University
in mathematical physics
in 1953. From 1950 to 1955 he was an honorary scholar at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
, where he served as a technical liaison to China
.
in 1956 at a subsidiary that searched for deposits of oil and natural gas, where he developed techniques in applied seismology
. Gardner also served on the faculty at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Rice University
and the University of Houston
. He worked for more than two decades for the Gulf Research and Development Company, a subsidiary of Gulf Oil, contributing to significant advances in applied seismology, or methods for finding oil and natural gas deposits.
, and he eventually served as the chapter's president.
Wilma Scott Heide
of First Pittsburgh took issue with the practice of the Pittsburgh Press
of identifying the paper's help wanted jobs as male or female, and filed a complaint in 1969 with the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations claiming that this constituted discrimination against women. The Commission on Human Relations held a hearing in January 1970, where Gardner was one of the witnesses called, testifying that there 1,000 column inches for "Jobs-Male Interest", 400 for female and 100 for male-female ads.
The local commission upheld the complaint, which included statistical evidence gathered by Gardner that showed the unlikelihood of a woman obtaining a job designated for men and described pay differentials between positions designated by gender that "flabbergasted him". Former NOW president Eleanor Smeal
described how Gardner's evidence was "hard intellectual theory based on the math" that "made it understandable, powerfully so."
The newspaper appealed their case to the Supreme Court of the United States, claiming that they were deprived of their rights to freedom of the press
guaranteed under the First Amendment
. In June 1973, the Supreme Court upheld a Pittsburgh ordinance banning ads that specified the sex of applicants by a 5–4 margin.
He was involved in another lawsuit in 1975, in which the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police was sued by the NAACP and NOW, which claimed that the department had discriminated in hiring women, African American
s and other minorities by the department. In a consent decree in place for 15 years, the department agreed to hire in groups of four that would include a white man, a white woman, a black man and a black woman. Until the decree was overturned following a lawsuit alleging reverse discrimination
, the Police Bureau had the highest percentages of female and African-American police officers nationwide.
He also supplied statistical analysis for cases against discount store G. C. Murphy
and Kroger
supermarkets, calculating the wages that female employees there lost as a result of gender-based discrimination, showing that small differences in pay between men and women when they were hired added up to substantial sums over the period of their employment, by affecting salary increases and opportunities for promotion.
neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
Gardner died at age 83 on July 25, 2009, in Pittsburgh due to leukemia
at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Shadyside. He was survived by his wife, the former Jo Ann Evans, who holds a Ph.D. in experimental psychology
and who adopted the surname "Evansgardner", a merged version of their last names, after their marriage in 1950.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
, geophysicist
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
and social activist whose statistical analysis led to the banning of classified advertising
Classified advertising
Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals which may be sold or distributed free of charge...
segregated by gender in a 1973 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
in the case Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations
Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations
Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations, , is a 1973 decision of the United States Supreme Court which upheld an ordinance enacted in Pittsburgh that forbids sex-designated classified advertising for job opportunities, against a claim by the parent company of the Pittsburgh...
. On a professional basis, he did early work on the use of monitoring seismological vibrations to identify deposits of natural gas that became industry standards.
Early life and education
Gardner was born on March 2, 1926, in TullamoreTullamore
Tullamore is a town in County Offaly, in the midlands of Ireland. It is Offaly's county town and the centre of the district.Tullamore is an important commercial and industrial centre in the region. Major international employers in the town include 'Tyco Healthcare' and 'Boston Scientific'. In...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and attended Trinity College
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
in Dublin, where he majored in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and mathematics, graduating in 1948. He moved to the United States, earning a masters in 1949 in applied mathematics
Applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with mathematical methods that are typically used in science, engineering, business, and industry. Thus, "applied mathematics" is a mathematical science with specialized knowledge...
at the Carnegie Institute of Technology
Carnegie Institute of Technology
The Carnegie Institute of Technology , is the name for Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering. It was first called the Carnegie Technical Schools, or Carnegie Tech, when it was founded in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie who intended to build a “first class technical school” in Pittsburgh,...
(later known as Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
) in 1949 and a Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in mathematical physics
Mathematical physics
Mathematical physics refers to development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The Journal of Mathematical Physics defines this area as: "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the development of mathematical methods suitable for such applications and...
in 1953. From 1950 to 1955 he was an honorary scholar at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies Dublin, Ireland was established in 1940 by the Taoiseach of the time, Éamon de Valera under the . The Institute consists of 3 schools: The , the and the . The directors of these schools are currently Professor Werner Nahm, Professor Luke Drury and...
, where he served as a technical liaison to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
Professional career
He was hired by Gulf OilGulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies...
in 1956 at a subsidiary that searched for deposits of oil and natural gas, where he developed techniques in applied seismology
Seismology
Seismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other planet-like bodies. The field also includes studies of earthquake effects, such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, oceanic,...
. Gardner also served on the faculty at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
and the University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
. He worked for more than two decades for the Gulf Research and Development Company, a subsidiary of Gulf Oil, contributing to significant advances in applied seismology, or methods for finding oil and natural gas deposits.
Social activism
Gardner was what his wife later described as "an activist atheist" and he was more comfortable working in the grassroots as a social activist than in front of a classroom. He and his wife belonged to First Pittsburgh NOW, the local chapter of the National Organization for WomenNational Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S...
, and he eventually served as the chapter's president.
Wilma Scott Heide
Wilma Scott Heide
Wilma Scott Heide was an American feminist author and social activist who was a leader in the feminist movement in the United States. Heide was involved in the Pittsburgh Press case that ended the practice of listing separate help wanted ads for men and women, decided in 1973 by the Supreme Court...
of First Pittsburgh took issue with the practice of the Pittsburgh Press
Pittsburgh Press
The Pittsburgh Press is an online newspaper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, currently owned and operated by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Historically, it was a major afternoon paper...
of identifying the paper's help wanted jobs as male or female, and filed a complaint in 1969 with the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations claiming that this constituted discrimination against women. The Commission on Human Relations held a hearing in January 1970, where Gardner was one of the witnesses called, testifying that there 1,000 column inches for "Jobs-Male Interest", 400 for female and 100 for male-female ads.
The local commission upheld the complaint, which included statistical evidence gathered by Gardner that showed the unlikelihood of a woman obtaining a job designated for men and described pay differentials between positions designated by gender that "flabbergasted him". Former NOW president Eleanor Smeal
Eleanor Smeal
Eleanor Smeal is a feminist activist, political analyst, lobbyist, and grassroots organizer...
described how Gardner's evidence was "hard intellectual theory based on the math" that "made it understandable, powerfully so."
The newspaper appealed their case to the Supreme Court of the United States, claiming that they were deprived of their rights to freedom of the press
Freedom of the press in the United States
Freedom of the press in the United States is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. This clause is generally understood as prohibiting the government from interfering with the printing and distribution of information or opinions, although freedom of the press, like...
guaranteed under the First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
. In June 1973, the Supreme Court upheld a Pittsburgh ordinance banning ads that specified the sex of applicants by a 5–4 margin.
He was involved in another lawsuit in 1975, in which the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police was sued by the NAACP and NOW, which claimed that the department had discriminated in hiring women, African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s and other minorities by the department. In a consent decree in place for 15 years, the department agreed to hire in groups of four that would include a white man, a white woman, a black man and a black woman. Until the decree was overturned following a lawsuit alleging reverse discrimination
Reverse discrimination
Reverse discrimination is a controversial term referring to discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group, including the city or state, or in favor of members of a minority or historically disadvantaged group such as African Americans being slaves. Groups may be defined in terms of...
, the Police Bureau had the highest percentages of female and African-American police officers nationwide.
He also supplied statistical analysis for cases against discount store G. C. Murphy
G. C. Murphy
G.C. Murphy is a defunct chain of five and dime or variety stores in the United States.- Origins of chain :The chain was founded in 1906 in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, by George Clinton Murphy. Murphy had gotten his start in retail as a manager of a McCrory's store in 1896...
and Kroger
Kroger
The Kroger Co. is an American supermarket chain founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It reported US$ 76.7 billion in sales during fiscal year 2009. It is the country's largest grocery store chain and its second-largest grocery retailer by volume and second-place general retailer...
supermarkets, calculating the wages that female employees there lost as a result of gender-based discrimination, showing that small differences in pay between men and women when they were hired added up to substantial sums over the period of their employment, by affecting salary increases and opportunities for promotion.
Personal
He lived with his wife in the HazelwoodHazelwood (Pittsburgh)
Hazelwood is a neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is represented on by Douglas Shields. It is bordered by Greenfield and Oakland on the north, Squirrel Hill and Glen Hazel on the east, and the Monongahela River on the south and west...
neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
Gardner died at age 83 on July 25, 2009, in Pittsburgh due to leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is an $9 billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 54,000 employees, 20 hospitals, 4,200 licensed beds, 400 outpatient sites and doctors’ offices, a 1.5 million-member health insurance division, as well as commercial and...
Shadyside. He was survived by his wife, the former Jo Ann Evans, who holds a Ph.D. in experimental psychology
Experimental psychology
Experimental psychology is a methodological approach, rather than a subject, and encompasses varied fields within psychology. Experimental psychologists have traditionally conducted research, published articles, and taught classes on neuroscience, developmental psychology, sensation, perception,...
and who adopted the surname "Evansgardner", a merged version of their last names, after their marriage in 1950.