Judith D. Sally

Judith Donovan Sally (born Judith Donovan; March 23, 1937 – January 28, 2024) was an American mathematician who was Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Northwestern University. Her research was in commutative algebra, particularly in the study of Noetherian local rings and graded rings.

Biography

Judith Donovan was born to Dr. and Mrs. Edward J. Donovan in Manhattan, New York on March 23, 1937. She finished high school at the Convent of Sacred Heart in New York and pursued her undergraduate studies at Barnard College, earning her bachelor's degree in 1958. Judith and Paul were married in November 1959, while Paul was still in graduate school. Judith and Paul had three sons, David, Stephen, and Paul III, while Paul was completing his dissertation and consequently, Judith postponed her doctoral studies. In 1971, she was awarded her Ph.D. in mathematics from University of Chicago.

Sally was an accomplished runner, completing several Chicago Marathons, as well as many shorter races, where she often finished first in her age group.

Career After completion of her doctoral studies, Sally spent 1971–1972 in a postdoctoral position at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She received a Bunting Fellowship at the Mary Ingraham Institute at Radcliffe College for the 1981–1982 academic year. and translated Jean Dieudonné's into English as History of algebraic geometry. She published several books on mathematics education with her husband, Paul Sally. Her interest in mathematical pedagogy also led to teaching mathematics courses at the University of Chicago for historically underrepresented groups and geometry courses for elementary school teachers.

Selected publications