Fawcett, Philippa Garrett, 1868-1948

Dates:

Birth 1868-04-04

Death 1948-06-10

Birth 1868

Death 1948

Active 1885

Active 1940

Biographical notes:

Philippa Garrett Fawcett (b. Apr. 4, 1868–d. June 10, 1948) was a British mathematician and educationalist. She was the daughter of suffragist Millicent Fawcett and Henry Fawcett MP, a professor and Postmaster General. She attended Newnham College, Cambridge and became the first woman to obtain the top score in the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos exams. However, she did not receive the title senior wrangler since she was a woman. She later won the Marion Kennedy scholarship at Cambridge and then appointed a college lecturer in Mathematics at Newnham College. She trained mathematics teachers at the Normal School in Johannesburg, South Africa before returning to Britain. Fawcett was an administrator of education for the London County Council. After being denied a Cambridge degree by her sex, Fawcett was one of the "steamboat ladies" who travelled to Ireland to receive an ad eundem University of Dublin degree at Trinity College.