Cornelia Strong

Cornelia Strong (1877 – June 3, 1955) was an American academic, astronomer, and mathematician. She was a professor at the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, where she taught mathematics and astronomy, from 1905 to 1948. Strong founded the astronomy program at the Woman's College in 1931. A residence hall and a residential college at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, as the Woman's College was later named when it became a coeducational institution, were named in her honor.

Early life and education Strong was born in Walhalla, South Carolina, in 1877 to Hugh Strong, a Presbyterian minister, and Cornelia Harris Gregg. She was of Irish descent. Strong completed a master's degree in mathematics and astronomy at the University of Michigan in 1931. During her forty-three year tenure, the school's name changed to the North Carolina College for Women in 1919 and then to the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina in 1932. She taught a lecture titled The Telescope: A Chapter in Modern Science.

Personal life Strong was known to pick flowers from her garden and deliver small bouquets to new faculty members.

She was a member of the Mathematical Association of America, the North Carolina Educational Association, the North Carolina Academy of Science, and the Astronomy Club of Greensboro. A Presbyterian funeral service was conducted at the chapel of Forbis & Murray Funeral Home. The Cornelia Strong College was later moved from the Moore-Strong Residence Hall to Guilford Hall.