Grace Bates

Grace Elizabeth Bates (13 August 1914 – 19 November 1996) was an American mathematician and one of few women in the United States to be granted a Ph.D. in mathematics in the 1940s. She became an emeritus professor at Mount Holyoke College. Bates specialized in algebra and probability theory, and she co-authored two textbooks: The Real Number System and Modern Algebra, Second Course.

Early life and education She was born on 13 August 1914. Interested in mathematics from a very young age, Bates was encouraged to pursue her interest by her family.

During her studies, Bates petitioned several times to take more advanced math courses than were typically available to female students. She attended the Cazenovia Seminary for high school, where she petitioned to take intermediate algebra.

Professional life and continuing education Bates taught briefly at Sweet Briar College before joining the faculty of Mount Holyoke College. After discussing her interest in probability and statistics with colleague Antoni Zygmund, Zygmund referred her to Jerzy Neyman at the University of California, Berkeley. Consequently, Bates obtained an assistantship at the Berkeley Statistical Laboratory and spend several summers working with Neyman in the 1950s. Together they wrote a number of research articles on probability theory.