María del Carmen Martínez Sancho

María del Carmen Martínez Sancho (8 July 1901 in Toledo – 15 October 1995 in Malaga) was the first woman in Spain to gain a PhD in Mathematics. She was the first Professor of Mathematics to work in secondary school education in Spain, and the first woman to be appointed to the Board of Extension of Studies at the University of Berlin. She was part of Madrid and Seville's Instituto-Escuela.

Early life and education Martínez was born on 8 July 1901 in Toledo. She was the second of six children in the family of José Martínez and Emilia Sancho. He believed that boys and girls should have the same education, and supported her to complete high school classes at the University of Alcalá's Cardenal Cisneros Associated School. In the first year of her degree, she was taught by extraordinary teachers, including Cecilio Jiménez Rueda and Julio Rey Pastor.

Career In 1928 Martínez was appointed Professor of Mathematics in the High-School Institute of Ferrol (La Coruña). She taught the first, third and fifth grade in 1938 and was promoted to Professor in 1939. Martínez organised a campaign within the Institute to build a canteen to provide food for disadvantaged students. Her campaign suffered due to the rise of Francoism. Her high school colleague Patricio Peñalver Bachiller, Professor and Dean in the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Seville, encouraged her to apply for faculty position. She was appointed a Professor of Mathematics in 1957.

Return to Madrid Martínez retired from the Murillo Institute in 1974, returned to Madrid and taught mathematics in the Jesús María School of Vallecas. Again she made efforts to engage students of low socioeconomic status.

Recognition As an acknowledgement to her teaching labour, Seville's town hall named one of their streets of the Santa Justa district in her honour.