Person: Lehr, Marguerite
Marguerite Lehr was an outstanding lecturer and, as one of the first to present a course of mathematics on television in 1952-53, she was in great demand both as a lecturer and as a consultant for presenting mathematics on film or TV.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- George Lehr was a grocer who had been born in König, Hesse, Darmstadt, Germany and emigrated to the United States in either 1890 or 1892 (both dates appear on official forms).
- Before giving details of Marguerite's biography, let us give some details of her siblings.
- Marguerite was educated in Baltimore, attending both primary and secondary schools in that city.
- She was strongly influenced by Clara Bacon who taught many of the courses Lehr studied.
- Lehr graduated with a B.A. in 1919.
- Being an assistant to Charlotte Scott was a rather different experience for Lehr than that of a usual assistantship since, by this time, Scott was completely deaf.
- This meant that Lehr had to answer questions students asked during Scott's lectures and she also had to hold office hours for Scott.
- Back at Bryn Mawr in 1924, Lehr was appointed as an Instructor in Mathematics and, the next year she was awarded her Ph.D. by Bryn Mawr for her thesis The plane quintic with five cusps.
- This was the second International Congress of Mathematicians that Lehr had attended, having been at the 1928 Congress in Bologna in September of that year.
- Lehr became a member of the American Association of University Women and was the speaker at the annual meeting of the College Women's Club, Montclair, New Jersey, on 14 April 1939.
- Perhaps Lehr became best known for her pioneering work as one of the earliest presenters of mathematics on television in 1952-53.
- Bryn Mawr asked Lehr if she would present a course on mathematics, one of the courses with fifteen lectures.
- Her success in the television course Invitation to Mathematics led to Lehr becoming a member of the Mathematical Association of America's Committee on Film Project which produced a series of films aimed at both teachers and students.
- In 1958-59 Lehr chaired the Philadelphia Section of the Mathematical Association of America.
- Gifts from many former students led to the Marguerite Lehr Scholarship Fund being established in Bryn Mawr College in 1988.
Born 22 October 1898, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Died 14 December 1987, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, USA.
View full biography at MacTutor
Tags relevant for this person:
Origin Usa, Women
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- @J-J-O'Connor
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References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
