Ellen Hayes

Ellen Amanda Hayes (September 23, 1851 – October 27, 1930) was an American mathematician and astronomer. She was a controversial figure, both for being a female college professor and for embracing many radical causes.

Early life Hayes was born in Granville, Ohio, on September 23, 1851. She was the first of six children to Ruth Rebecca Hayes and Charles Coleman Hayes. At the age of seven she studied at the Centerville school, a one-room ungraded public school and, in 1867, at sixteen, was employed to teach at a country school. Orbit determination in the late nineteenth century required extensive manual computation and advanced mathematical training, making such work notable at a time when women rarely had access to advanced scientific institutions.

In addition to her astronomical work, Hayes authored several mathematical textbooks and instructional materials used in collegiate education. Her teaching career at Wellesley College spanned several decades, during which she contributed to the development of mathematical curricula for women in higher education. Her career represents an early example of sustained female participation in professional mathematics in the United States.

As a mathematics professor, she was described as controversial. She questioned the truth of the Bible in front of students.

A history of Wellesley College reads:

1=A dauntless radical all her days, in the eighties she was wearing short skirts; in the nineties she was a staunch advocate of Woman's Suffrage; in the first two decades of the twentieth century, an ardent Socialist. After her retirement, and until her death in 1930, she was actively connected with an experiment in adult education for working girls. Fearless, devoted, intransigent, fanatical, if you like, and at times a thorn in the flesh of the trustees, who withheld the title of Emeritus on her retirement, she is remembered with enthusiasm and affection by many of her students.|2=History of Wellesley College|3=

In 1929, she moved to West Park, New York, to teach at Vineyard Shore School for women workers in industry, despite her pain from arthritis. She died on October 27, 1930. Her will left her brain to the Wilder Brain Collection at Cornell University. Her ashes were buried in Granville, Ohio.