Mary Kenneth Keller: Difference between revisions

| honorific_suffix = [[wikipedia:Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary|B.V.M.]]

| birth_place = [[wikipedia:Cleveland|Cleveland]], Ohio, United States

| death_place = [[wikipedia:Dubuque, Iowa|Dubuque, Iowa]], United States

| workplaces = [[wikipedia:Clarke University|Clarke University]]

| education = [[wikipedia:DePaul University|DePaul University]] ([[wikipedia:Bachelor's degree|BS]], [[wikipedia:Master's degree|MS]])<br>[[wikipedia:University of Wisconsin–Madison|University of Wisconsin–Madison]] ([[wikipedia:PhD|PhD]])

| known_for = [[wikipedia:BASIC|BASIC]]

'''Mary Kenneth Keller''', [[wikipedia:Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary|B.V.M.]] (December 17, 1913 – January 10, 1985) was an American [[wikipedia:Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[wikipedia:religious sister|religious sister]], educator and pioneer in [[wikipedia:computer science|computer science]]. She was one of the first people, and the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in computer science in the [[wikipedia:United States|United States]]. Keller and [[wikipedia:Irving C. Tang|Irving C. Tang]] were the first two recipients of computer science doctorates (Keller's Ph.D. and Tang's D.Sc. were awarded on the same day).<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/wisconsin/madison/madison-wisconsin-state-journal/1965/06-08/page-5?tag=commencement&rtserp=tags/commencement?&ndt=ex&py=1965&pm=6&pd=8&pc=17236&psi=103&pci=7|title = Wisconsin State Journal, June 8, 1965| date=8 June 1965 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/wisconsin/madison/madison-capital-times/1965/06-07/page-12?tag=commencement&rtserp=tags/commencement?&ndt=ex&py=1965&pm=6&pd=7&pc=17236&psi=103&pci=7|title = Capital Times| date=7 June 1965 |access-date = September 19, 2015}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name="London 2013">{{cite web |last=London |first=Ralph L |title=Who Earned First Computer Science Ph.D.? |date=2013-01-15 |website=Communications of the ACM |url=https://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/159591-who-earned-first-computer-science-ph-d/fulltext |access-date=2019-10-25}}</ref>

Keller, named Evelyn Marie Keller at birth, was born in [[wikipedia:Ohio|Cleveland, Ohio]], on December 17, 1913, to John Adam Keller and Catherine Josephine (née Sullivan) Keller.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Gurer|first=Denise|date=January 1995|title=Pioneering Women in Computer Science|journal=Communications of the ACM|volume= 38| issue = 1|pages=45–54|doi=10.1145/204865.204875|s2cid=6626310|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Head |first=Jennifer |last2=O’Leary |first2=Dianne P. |date=2023-01-01 |title=The Legacy of Mary Kenneth Keller, First U.S. Ph.D. in Computer Science |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10076929/ |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=55–63 |doi=10.1109/MAHC.2022.3231763 |issn=1058-6180}}</ref> She entered the [[wikipedia:Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary|Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary]] in 1932<ref name="gurer">{{cite journal|last=Gürer|first=Denise|date=June 2002|title=Pioneering Women in Computer Science|url=http://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/csep590/06au/readings/p175-gurer.pdf|journal=Communications of the ACM|volume=38|pages=45–54|doi=10.1145/204865.204875|number=1|s2cid=6626310}}</ref><ref name="Crezo">{{cite news|last1=Crezo|first1=Adrienne|title=First Female Ph.D. in Computer Science Was a Nun|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/53178/first-woman-earn-phd-computer-science-was-nun|access-date=28 March 2015|work=Real Clear Science|date=October 14, 2013}}</ref> and took her [[wikipedia:religious vows|vows]] with that [[wikipedia:religious congregation|religious congregation]] in 1940.<ref name="gurer" /><ref>{{cite news

|date=May 25, 2014}}</ref> She completed both her [[wikipedia:Bachelor of Science|B.S. (Bachelor of Science)]] in Mathematics in 1943 and her [[wikipedia:Master of Science|M.S. (Master of Science)]] in Mathematics and Physics in 1953 from [[wikipedia:DePaul University|DePaul University]] in Chicago. Keller earned her [[wikipedia:Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)]] from the [[wikipedia:University of Wisconsin–Madison|University of Wisconsin–Madison]] in 1965.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/159591-who-earned-first-computer-science-phd/fulltext|title=Who Earned First Computer Science Ph.D.?|last=London|first=Ralph L.|date=15 January 2013|type=blog|access-date=1 August 2014|periodical=Communications of the ACM}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Steel|first=Martha Vickers|title=Women in computing: experiences and contributions within the emerging computing industry|date=11 December 2011|url=http://www.computinghistorymuseum.org/teaching/papers/research/steel.pdf|type=CSIS 550 History of Computing – Research Paper|access-date=1 August 2014|archive-date=23 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123023549/http://www.computinghistorymuseum.org/teaching/papers/research/steel.pdf}}</ref><ref name="uwismadison">{{Cite web|url=http://research.cs.wisc.edu/includes/textfiles/phds.65-70.txt|title=UW-Madison Computer Science Ph.D.s Awarded, May 1965 - August 1970|work=Department of Computer Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison|access-date=2015-08-28}}, PhDs granted at UW-Madison Computer Sciences Department.</ref> Her dissertation, ''Inductive Inference on Computer Generated Patterns'',<ref name="uwismadison" /> focused on "constructing algorithms that performed analytic differentiation on algebraic expression, written in CDC FORTRAN 63."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.women.cs.cmu.edu/ada/Resources/Women/|title=The Ada Project|website=www.women.cs.cmu.edu|access-date=2017-11-18|archive-date=2018-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326031002/https://www.women.cs.cmu.edu/ada/Resources/Women/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Throughout Keller's graduate studies, she was affiliated with various institutions including the University of Michigan, Purdue, and Dartmouth.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gurer|first=Denise|date=January 1995|title=Pioneering women in computer science|journal=Communications of the ACM|volume= 38| issue = 1|pages=45–54|doi=10.1145/204865.204875|s2cid=6626310|doi-access=free}}</ref> Although many sources claim that Keller began working at the National Science Foundation<ref>{{Cite web|title = Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - BVM News|url = http://www.bvmcong.org/whatsnew_archive.cfm|website = www.bvmcong.org|access-date = 2015-10-14|archive-date = 2017-09-02|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170902182905/http://www.bvmcong.org/whatsnew_archive.cfm|url-status = dead}}</ref> workshop in 1958 in the computer science center at [[wikipedia:Dartmouth College|Dartmouth College]], a male-only institution at the time, where she participated in the implementation of the first DTSS [[wikipedia:BASIC|BASIC]] kernel for the language, working under [[wikipedia:John G. Kemeny|John G. Kemeny]] and [[wikipedia:Thomas E. Kurtz|Thomas E. Kurtz]] along with about a dozen other students, this cannot be correct since Dartmouth did not acquire its first computer until 1959.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia

|publisher=[[wikipedia:Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]]

}}</ref> Keller participated in a summer program for high school teachers at Dartmouth College in 1961 where she worked with [[wikipedia:Thomas E. Kurtz|Thomas Kurtz]], the father of the [[wikipedia:BASIC|BASIC]] language. She became a proficient teacher of [[wikipedia:BASIC|BASIC]] and co-wrote a prominent textbook on the subject in 1973.<ref name="Mary Kenneth Keller ">{{cite journal| last1=Head | first1=Jennifer | last2=O'Leary | first2=Dianne P. | title=The Legacy of Mary Kenneth Keller, First U.S. Ph.D. In Computer Science | journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing | year=2023 | volume=45 | pages=55–63 | doi=10.1109/MAHC.2022.3231763 |arxiv=2208.01765| s2cid=257642795 }}</ref>

}}</ref> After finishing her doctorate in 1965, Keller founded the computer science department at Clarke College (now [[wikipedia:Clarke University|Clarke University]]), a Catholic women's college founded by [[wikipedia:Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary|Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary]] in Dubuque, Iowa. That same year, that National Science Foundation awarded her a grant of $25,000 payable over two years for "instructional equipment for undergraduate education."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Grants and Awards for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1965|last=National Science Foundation|publisher=Government Printing Office|year=1965|location=Washington, DC|pages=98}}</ref> One of the first computer science departments at a small college, Keller directed this department for twenty years.<ref>[http://www.nwhm.org/blog/category/uncategorized/ About - National Women's History Museum - NWHM<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510051542/http://www.nwhm.org/blog/category/uncategorized/ |date=2012-05-10 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dorn|first=Philip H.|date=April 1986|title=Sister Mary Kenneth Keller|journal=Annals of the History of Computing|volume= 8| issue = 2|pages=194|doi=10.1109/MAHC.1986.10042}}</ref> Clarke College now has the Keller Computer Center and Information Services, which is named after her and which provides computing and telecommunication support to Clarke College students, faculty members, and staff.<ref>[http://www.clarke.edu/page.aspx?id=2684 Computer Center : Clarke University<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The college has also established the Mary Kenneth Keller Computer Science Scholarship in her honor.<ref>[https://www.cappex.com/page/meritAid/programDetail.jsp?id=153126&program=151605 Mary Kenneth Keller Computer Science Scholarship - Clarke University Scholarships<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

* [[wikipedia:List of Christians in science and technology|List of Christians in science and technology]]

* [[wikipedia:List of lay Catholic scientists|List of lay Catholic scientists]]

* [[wikipedia:List of Catholic clergy scientists|List of Catholic clergy scientists]]

* [[wikipedia:Timeline of women in science|Timeline of women in science]]

* [[wikipedia:BASIC|BASIC (programming language)]]

[[wikipedia:Category:1913 births|Category:1913 births]]

[[wikipedia:Category:1985 deaths|Category:1985 deaths]]

[[wikipedia:Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic nuns|Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic nuns]]

[[wikipedia:Category:20th-century American women scientists|Category:20th-century American women scientists]]

[[wikipedia:Category:American computer programmers|Category:American computer programmers]]

[[wikipedia:Category:American computer scientists|Category:American computer scientists]]

[[wikipedia:Category:American women computer scientists|Category:American women computer scientists]]

[[wikipedia:Category:BASIC programming language|Category:BASIC programming language]]

[[wikipedia:Category:Catholics from Iowa|Category:Catholics from Iowa]]

[[wikipedia:Category:Clarke University faculty|Category:Clarke University faculty]]

[[wikipedia:Category:DePaul University alumni|Category:DePaul University alumni]]

[[wikipedia:Category:People from Dubuque, Iowa|Category:People from Dubuque, Iowa]]

[[wikipedia:Category:Programming language designers|Category:Programming language designers]]

[[wikipedia:Category:American software engineers|Category:American software engineers]]

[[wikipedia:Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni|Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni]]