Person: Nelson, Evelyn Merle Roden
Evelyn Nelson was a Canadian mathematician who worked in the area of universal algebra with applications to theoretical computer science.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- Although her parents had struggled when they first arrived in Canada, by the time Evelyn was born they were comfortably off running a clothing business.
- Evelyn attended Westdale High School in Hamilton, Canada, and soon showed that she had quite outstanding gifts but it is very much to her parents credit that they encouraged her talents in science and mathematics although they themselves had little experience of these topics.
- After graduating from Westdale High School in Hamilton, Evelyn entered the University of Toronto.
- At McMaster, Nelson decided to concentrate on mathematics and she registered for the Honours Mathematics course there and performed so well that she even took a graduate course for credit as part of her undergraduate degree.
- After completing her M.Sc. Nelson continued to study at McMaster for her Ph.D. under the supervision of Günther Bruns.
- Nelson spent her whole career at McMaster.
- Two which Nelson wrote jointly with Bernhard Banaschewski were On residual finiteness and finite embeddability and Equational compactness in equational classes of algebras both of which were published in Algebra Universalis.
- When Computer Science split from the Mathematics Department to become a Department in its own right in 1984 Nelson's health was too poor to allow her to continue as head.
- In 1985 Nelson was invited to address the Fundamentals of Computation Theory Conference in Cottbus.
- Despite deteriorating health, Nelson continued to produce outstanding mathematical papers.
- Finally let us say a little about Nelson's teaching.
- In 1995 the Canadian Mathematical Society honoured her by settting up the Krieger-Nelson Prize Lectureship for Distinguished Research by Women in Mathematics.
Born 25 November 1943, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Died 1 August 1987, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
View full biography at MacTutor
Tags relevant for this person:
Origin Canada, Women
Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0! 
- Github:
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- non-Github:
- @J-J-O'Connor
- @E-F-Robertson
References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
