Olive Hazlett
Encyclopedia
Olive Clio Hazlett was an American
mathematician
who spent most of her career working for the University of Illinois
. She mainly researched algebra
, and wrote seventeen research papers
on subjects such as nilpotent algebras, division algebra
s, modular invariant
s, and the arithmetic of algebras.
but grew up in Boston
, Massachusetts
where she attended public school. In 1912 she received her bachelor's degree
from Radcliffe College
. She then attended the University of Chicago
for her master's degree
(1913) and Ph.D. (1915), for which she wrote a thesis
titled On the Classification and Invariantive Characterization of Nilpotent Algebras. After receiving her doctoral degree Hazlett was awarded an Alice Freeman Palmer
Fellowship
by Harvard, which allowed her to research invariants of nilpotent algebras at Wellesley College there for the next year.
, where she worked for two years before accepting an appointment as assistant professor at Mount Holyoke College
. She was promoted to associate professor in 1924 but left in 1925 because she felt she was not given enough time or resources to pursue her research in algebra. It was then that she took a job as assistant professor at the University of Illinois, where she would spend the rest of her career.
In 1928 Hazlett received a Guggenheim Fellowship
that allowed her to spend a year visiting Italy
, Germany
, and Switzerland
. While in Italy she presented a paper called Integers as Matrices to the International Congress of Mathematicians
in Bologna
. Near the end of her visits she requested an extension of her Guggenheim Fellowship, which was granted and allowed her to spend another year in Europe
. When she finally returned to the University of Illinois in 1930, she was promoted to associate professor and received a pay raise. However, her teaching schedule was rigorous and required her to teach service courses to large classes of non-math-majors, and after 1930 she did not publish any more research papers. In 1935 she wrote to the chair of the mathematics department complaining that the service courses left her no time for research, but her teaching schedule was not changed and by December 1936 she took a sick leave after having a mental breakdown from the stress of her job. The sick leave was supposed to end in August 1937, but her health had not improved enough by this time and she took another year off. She was, however, able to return to teaching by the end of 1938.
When World War II
started in 1940, she was appointed a member of the American Mathematical Society
's Cryptanalysis Committee, for which she worked until the war's end. She maintained her teaching job for most of this period, though, (except for taking leave in 1944-45) and went to great lengths to keep her Cryptanalysis Committee work secret. Her health, however, continued to deteriorate, and in 1946 the University of Illinois placed her on permanent disability leave.
In 1959 she officially retired from the University of Illinois as an Associate Professor Emerita
. She lived the rest of her life at her home in Peterborough
, New Hampshire
.
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....
who spent most of her career working for the University of Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
. She mainly researched algebra
Algebra
Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
, and wrote seventeen research papers
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
on subjects such as nilpotent algebras, division algebra
Division algebra
In the field of mathematics called abstract algebra, a division algebra is, roughly speaking, an algebra over a field, in which division is possible.- Definitions :...
s, modular invariant
Modular invariant
In mathematics, a modular invariant may be* A modular invariant of a group acting on a vector space of positive characteristic* The elliptic modular function, giving the modular invariant of an elliptic curve....
s, and the arithmetic of algebras.
Background
Hazlett was born in Cincinnati, OhioOhio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
but grew up in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
where she attended public school. In 1912 she received her bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
. She then attended the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
for her master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
(1913) and Ph.D. (1915), for which she wrote a thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
titled On the Classification and Invariantive Characterization of Nilpotent Algebras. After receiving her doctoral degree Hazlett was awarded an Alice Freeman Palmer
Alice Freeman Palmer
Alice Freeman Palmer was an American educator.She was born Alice Elvira Freeman in Colesville, New York and brought up in Windsor, New York. Her parents both came from well-to-do families with interests in lumber, dairy farming and land...
Fellowship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
by Harvard, which allowed her to research invariants of nilpotent algebras at Wellesley College there for the next year.
Career
In 1916 she was appointed to Bryn Mawr CollegeBryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
, where she worked for two years before accepting an appointment as assistant professor at Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
. She was promoted to associate professor in 1924 but left in 1925 because she felt she was not given enough time or resources to pursue her research in algebra. It was then that she took a job as assistant professor at the University of Illinois, where she would spend the rest of her career.
In 1928 Hazlett received a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
that allowed her to spend a year visiting Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. While in Italy she presented a paper called Integers as Matrices to the International Congress of Mathematicians
International Congress of Mathematicians
The International Congress of Mathematicians is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union ....
in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
. Near the end of her visits she requested an extension of her Guggenheim Fellowship, which was granted and allowed her to spend another year in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. When she finally returned to the University of Illinois in 1930, she was promoted to associate professor and received a pay raise. However, her teaching schedule was rigorous and required her to teach service courses to large classes of non-math-majors, and after 1930 she did not publish any more research papers. In 1935 she wrote to the chair of the mathematics department complaining that the service courses left her no time for research, but her teaching schedule was not changed and by December 1936 she took a sick leave after having a mental breakdown from the stress of her job. The sick leave was supposed to end in August 1937, but her health had not improved enough by this time and she took another year off. She was, however, able to return to teaching by the end of 1938.
When World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
started in 1940, she was appointed a member of the American Mathematical Society
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...
's Cryptanalysis Committee, for which she worked until the war's end. She maintained her teaching job for most of this period, though, (except for taking leave in 1944-45) and went to great lengths to keep her Cryptanalysis Committee work secret. Her health, however, continued to deteriorate, and in 1946 the University of Illinois placed her on permanent disability leave.
In 1959 she officially retired from the University of Illinois as an Associate Professor Emerita
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
. She lived the rest of her life at her home in Peterborough
Peterborough, New Hampshire
Peterborough is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,284 at the 2010 census. Home to the MacDowell Art Colony, the town is a popular tourist destination....
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
.