Person: Griffiths, Lois

Lois Wilfred Griffiths was an American mathematician best known for her work in polygonal numbers.

Frederick Griffiths was born in Wales and had emigrated to the United States in 1880.
Lois was educated at elementary and secondary schools in Washington State before entering the University of Washington.
During her undergraduate years Lois was assistant to Comptroller Condon of the University of Washington.
Entering the University of Chicago in October 1925, Griffiths undertook research for a doctorate in mathematics working with her thesis supervisor Leonard Dickson.
Immediately following the award of her doctorate, Griffiths was appointed as an Instructor in Mathematics at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she spent the whole of her teaching career.
In 1945 Griffiths produced a typewritten set of notes Determinants and systems of linear equations.
Two later typewritten sets of notes by Griffiths Outline of the theory of groups (1948) and Matrices and linear dependence (1949) were never published.
Before writing her textbook, Griffiths had published a number of excellent reviews of important algebra texts.
Griffiths attended meetings of both the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America.
As to her hobbies, Griffiths loved walking, gardening and cooking.
Lois Griffiths retired from her position at Northwestern University in 1964 and at that time she was made professor emeritus.

Born 27 June 1899, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, USA. Died 9 November 1981, Skokie, Illinois, USA.

View full biography at MacTutor

Origin Usa, Women

Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0!

O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive