Annie Dale Biddle Andrews
She shattered Berkeley's mathematics glass ceiling, solving a century-old problem in number theory for her groundbreaking doctorate.
1885–1940 (age 55)·American mathematician·Birthday: December 13·The Lost Generation
Biography
Annie Dale Biddle Andrews navigated a world where advanced mathematics was considered an unsuitable pursuit for women. After earning bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, she set her sights on a Ph.D., a path no woman had completed there. Under the guidance of mathematician Derrick Norman Lehmer, she tackled a problem in the theory of congruences that had lingered since the 18th century. In 1911, her dissertation, 'Constructive Theory of the Unicursal Plane Quartic by Means of its Tangents,' successfully cracked it, earning her the historic doctorate. She continued researching and teaching, though opportunities in academia were limited. Her quiet, determined breakthrough paved the way for the generations of women mathematicians who followed at Berkeley and beyond, proving the rigor of their intellect in the most concrete terms possible: a solved problem.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Annie was born in 1885, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Annie Was Born
The biggest hits of 1885
Annie's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1885Born
Karl Benz builds the first gasoline-powered automobile
President: Grover Cleveland
1890Started school
Wounded Knee massacre marks the end of the Indian Wars
President: Benjamin Harrison
1898Became a teenager
Spanish-American War; US emerges as a world power
President: William McKinley
1901Could drive
Queen Victoria dies, ending the Victorian era
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1903Could vote
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1906Turned 21
San Francisco earthquake devastates the city
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1915Turned 30
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1925Turned 40
The Scopes Trial debates evolution in schools
Home: $4,366President: Calvin Coolidge"Sweet Georgia Brown" — Ben Bernie
1935Turned 50
Social Security Act signed into law
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,450President: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Cheek to Cheek" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty
1940Died at 55
The Blitz: Germany bombs London
Gas: $0.18/galHome: $2,938Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I'll Never Smile Again" — Tommy DorseyBest Picture: Rebecca
Key Achievements
- Became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1911.
- Her dissertation provided a novel solution to a classical problem in the theory of congruences related to plane quartics.
- Published her doctoral research in the prestigious American Journal of Mathematics, establishing her scholarly credentials.
Did You Know?
Her Ph.D. was only the second in mathematics awarded to a woman in the entire United States.
She was a member of the honor society Pi Mu Epsilon.
After her Ph.D., she taught mathematics at a high school in San Francisco.
“My thesis proves the reducibility of the seventh type of collineations in a plane of order 2^n.”
