Cooney, Miriam P.

Born 1925 in South Bend, Indiana.; She obtained her undergraduate degree in mathematics from St. Marys College in 1953, her graduate degree from Notre Dame University in 1955, and her doctorate degree from University of Chicago in 1969. Sister Cooney started teaching math in1951 at St. Marys College and rose to Associate Professor in 1959. From 1971 to1972 she served as Associate Chair in the math department at Notre Dame University and Professor and Chair of Saint Marys College from 1968 to 1991. In 1981 she and Sr. Stephanie Sloyan, RSM, embarked on a study of 130 Catholic women, primarily nuns, surveyed about their doctorate degrees and careers in mathematics. This resulted in a Smithsonian Institute project and a published study titled Directory of Women Religious in Higher Education in 1986. Her other publications include dissertation The NonSolvable Hall Subgroups of the General Linear Group in 1970, the coauthored the article Recruitment and Retention of Students in Undergraduate Mathematics in 1990, and Celebrating Women in Mathematics and Science in 1996.