Mary Kenneth Keller: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Mary Kenneth Keller
| name = Mary Kenneth Keller
| honorific_suffix = [[Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary|B.V.M.]]
| honorific_suffix = [[wikipedia:Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary|B.V.M.]]
| image = Mary Kenneth Keller.jpg
| image = Mary Kenneth Keller.jpg
| alt =
| alt =
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| birth_name = Evelyn Marie Keller
| birth_name = Evelyn Marie Keller
| birth_date = {{birth date|1913|12|17}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1913|12|17}}
| birth_place = [[Cleveland]], Ohio, United States
| birth_place = [[wikipedia:Cleveland|Cleveland]], Ohio, United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|1985|01|10|1913|12|17}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1985|01|10|1913|12|17}}
| death_place = [[Dubuque, Iowa]], United States
| death_place = [[wikipedia:Dubuque, Iowa|Dubuque, Iowa]], United States
| resting_place =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates = <!--{{coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}-->
| resting_place_coordinates = <!--{{coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}-->
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| nationality =
| nationality =
| fields =
| fields =
| workplaces = [[Clarke University]]
| workplaces = [[wikipedia:Clarke University|Clarke University]]
| patrons =
| patrons =
| education = [[DePaul University]] ([[Bachelor's degree|BS]], [[Master's degree|MS]])<br>[[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] ([[PhD]])
| 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]])
| thesis_title = Inductive Inference on Computer Generated Patterns
| thesis_title = Inductive Inference on Computer Generated Patterns
| thesis_url = <!--(or | thesis1_url = and | thesis2_url = )-->
| thesis_url = <!--(or | thesis1_url = and | thesis2_url = )-->
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| doctoral_students =
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students =
| notable_students =
| known_for = [[BASIC]]
| known_for = [[wikipedia:BASIC|BASIC]]
| influences =
| influences =
| influenced =
| influenced =
| awards =
| awards =
}}
}}
'''Mary Kenneth Keller''', [[Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary|B.V.M.]] (December 17, 1913 – January 10, 1985) was an American [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[religious sister]], educator and pioneer in [[computer science]]. She was one of the first people, and the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in computer science in the [[United States]]. Keller and [[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>
'''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>


==Career==
==Career==
{{Disputed section|date=December 2021}}
{{Disputed section|date=December 2021}}
Keller, named Evelyn Marie Keller at birth, was born in [[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 [[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 [[religious vows|vows]] with that [[religious congregation]] in 1940.<ref name="gurer" /><ref>{{cite news
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
|title=CS Prof From Iowa Was a 'Heroine of Computing' -- and a Nun
|title=CS Prof From Iowa Was a 'Heroine of Computing' -- and a Nun
|url=http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2014-05.html
|url=http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2014-05.html
|date=May 25, 2014}}</ref> She completed both her [[Bachelor of Science|B.S. (Bachelor of Science)]] in Mathematics in 1943 and her [[Master of Science|M.S. (Master of Science)]] in Mathematics and Physics in 1953 from [[DePaul University]] in Chicago. Keller earned her [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)]] from the [[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>
|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 [[Dartmouth College]], a male-only institution at the time, where she participated in the implementation of the first DTSS [[BASIC]] kernel for the language, working under [[John G. Kemeny]] and [[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
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
|encyclopedia=History of Programming Languages I
|encyclopedia=History of Programming Languages I
|last=Kurtz
|last=Kurtz
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|title=BASIC
|title=BASIC
|date=1981
|date=1981
|publisher=[[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]]
|publisher=[[wikipedia:Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]]
|isbn=0127450408
|isbn=0127450408
|doi=10.1145/800025.1198404
|doi=10.1145/800025.1198404
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|s2cid=222095524
|s2cid=222095524
|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofprogram0000hist/page/515
|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofprogram0000hist/page/515
}}</ref> Keller participated in a summer program for high school teachers at Dartmouth College in 1961 where she worked with [[Thomas E. Kurtz|Thomas Kurtz]], the father of the [[BASIC]] language. She became a proficient teacher of [[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> 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>


Keller believed in the potential for computers to increase access to information and promote education.<ref>{{Cite web
Keller believed in the potential for computers to increase access to information and promote education.<ref>{{Cite web
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| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200529035318/https://www.women.cs.cmu.edu/ada/Resources/Women/?view=alphabetical
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200529035318/https://www.women.cs.cmu.edu/ada/Resources/Women/?view=alphabetical
| url-status = dead
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> After finishing her doctorate in 1965, Keller founded the computer science department at Clarke College (now [[Clarke University]]), a Catholic women's college founded by [[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>
}}</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>


Keller was an advocate for the involvement of women in computing<ref name="gurer"/> and the use of computers for education. She helped to establish the Association of Small Computer Users in Education (ASCUE).<ref name="Annals">{{cite journal|date=1986|title=Brief Obituary for Sister Mary Kenneth Keller|journal=Annals of the History of Computing|volume=8|issue=2|page=194|doi=10.1109/MAHC.1986.10042}}</ref> She went on to write four books in the field.<ref>[http://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?title=KELLER%2C_Mary_Kenneth Keller, Mary Kenneth - Encyclopedia Dubuque<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> At the ACM/SIGUCC User Services Conference in 1975, Keller declared "we have not fully used a computer as the greatest interdisciplinary tool that has been invented to date."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Keller|first=Sister Mary Kenneth|date=December 1975|title=The role of the university computer center in educational research (with remote hope)|journal=ACM SIGUCCS Newsletter|volume= 5| issue = 4|pages=12–14|doi=10.1145/1098890.1098893|s2cid=21300012|doi-access=free}}</ref>
Keller was an advocate for the involvement of women in computing<ref name="gurer"/> and the use of computers for education. She helped to establish the Association of Small Computer Users in Education (ASCUE).<ref name="Annals">{{cite journal|date=1986|title=Brief Obituary for Sister Mary Kenneth Keller|journal=Annals of the History of Computing|volume=8|issue=2|page=194|doi=10.1109/MAHC.1986.10042}}</ref> She went on to write four books in the field.<ref>[http://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?title=KELLER%2C_Mary_Kenneth Keller, Mary Kenneth - Encyclopedia Dubuque<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> At the ACM/SIGUCC User Services Conference in 1975, Keller declared "we have not fully used a computer as the greatest interdisciplinary tool that has been invented to date."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Keller|first=Sister Mary Kenneth|date=December 1975|title=The role of the university computer center in educational research (with remote hope)|journal=ACM SIGUCCS Newsletter|volume= 5| issue = 4|pages=12–14|doi=10.1145/1098890.1098893|s2cid=21300012|doi-access=free}}</ref>
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==See also==
==See also==
* [[List of Christians in science and technology]]
* [[wikipedia:List of Christians in science and technology|List of Christians in science and technology]]
* [[List of lay Catholic scientists]]
* [[wikipedia:List of lay Catholic scientists|List of lay Catholic scientists]]
* [[List of Catholic clergy scientists]]
* [[wikipedia:List of Catholic clergy scientists|List of Catholic clergy scientists]]
* [[Timeline of women in science]]
* [[wikipedia:Timeline of women in science|Timeline of women in science]]
* [[BASIC|BASIC (programming language)]]
* [[wikipedia:BASIC|BASIC (programming language)]]


==References==
==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Mary Kenneth}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Mary Kenneth}}
[[Category:1913 births]]
[[wikipedia:Category:1913 births|Category:1913 births]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[wikipedia:Category:1985 deaths|Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic nuns]]
[[wikipedia:Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic nuns|Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic nuns]]
[[Category:20th-century American women scientists]]
[[wikipedia:Category:20th-century American women scientists|Category:20th-century American women scientists]]
[[Category:American computer programmers]]
[[wikipedia:Category:American computer programmers|Category:American computer programmers]]
[[Category:American computer scientists]]
[[wikipedia:Category:American computer scientists|Category:American computer scientists]]
[[Category:American women computer scientists]]
[[wikipedia:Category:American women computer scientists|Category:American women computer scientists]]
[[Category:BASIC programming language]]
[[wikipedia:Category:BASIC programming language|Category:BASIC programming language]]
[[Category:Catholics from Iowa]]
[[wikipedia:Category:Catholics from Iowa|Category:Catholics from Iowa]]
[[Category:Clarke University faculty]]
[[wikipedia:Category:Clarke University faculty|Category:Clarke University faculty]]
[[Category:DePaul University alumni]]
[[wikipedia:Category:DePaul University alumni|Category:DePaul University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Dubuque, Iowa]]
[[wikipedia:Category:People from Dubuque, Iowa|Category:People from Dubuque, Iowa]]
[[Category:Programming language designers]]
[[wikipedia:Category:Programming language designers|Category:Programming language designers]]
[[Category:American software engineers]]
[[wikipedia:Category:American software engineers|Category:American software engineers]]
[[Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni]]
[[wikipedia:Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni|Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni]]

Revision as of 11:02, December 7, 2024

Mary Kenneth Keller

Born
Evelyn Marie Keller

(1913-12-17)December 17, 1913
Cleveland, Ohio, United States
DiedJanuary 10, 1985(1985-01-10) (aged 71)
Dubuque, Iowa, United States
EducationDePaul University (BS, MS)
University of Wisconsin–Madison (PhD)
Known forBASIC
Scientific career
InstitutionsClarke University
ThesisInductive Inference on Computer Generated Patterns (1965)

Mary Kenneth Keller, B.V.M. (December 17, 1913 – January 10, 1985) was an American Catholic religious sister, educator and pioneer in computer science. She was one of the first people, and the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in computer science in the United States. Keller and 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).[1][2][3][4]

Career

Template:Disputed section Keller, named Evelyn Marie Keller at birth, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on December 17, 1913, to John Adam Keller and Catherine Josephine (née Sullivan) Keller.[3][5] She entered the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1932[6][7] and took her vows with that religious congregation in 1940.[6][8] She completed both her B.S. (Bachelor of Science) in Mathematics in 1943 and her M.S. (Master of Science) in Mathematics and Physics in 1953 from DePaul University in Chicago. Keller earned her Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy) from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1965.[9][10][11] Her dissertation, Inductive Inference on Computer Generated Patterns,[11] focused on "constructing algorithms that performed analytic differentiation on algebraic expression, written in CDC FORTRAN 63."[12]

Throughout Keller's graduate studies, she was affiliated with various institutions including the University of Michigan, Purdue, and Dartmouth.[13] Although many sources claim that Keller began working at the National Science Foundation[14] workshop in 1958 in the computer science center at Dartmouth College, a male-only institution at the time, where she participated in the implementation of the first DTSS BASIC kernel for the language, working under John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz along with about a dozen other students, this cannot be correct since Dartmouth did not acquire its first computer until 1959.[15] Keller participated in a summer program for high school teachers at Dartmouth College in 1961 where she worked with Thomas Kurtz, the father of the BASIC language. She became a proficient teacher of BASIC and co-wrote a prominent textbook on the subject in 1973.[16]

Keller believed in the potential for computers to increase access to information and promote education.[17] After finishing her doctorate in 1965, Keller founded the computer science department at Clarke College (now Clarke University), a Catholic women's college founded by 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."[18] One of the first computer science departments at a small college, Keller directed this department for twenty years.[19][20] 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.[21] The college has also established the Mary Kenneth Keller Computer Science Scholarship in her honor.[22]

Keller was an advocate for the involvement of women in computing[6] and the use of computers for education. She helped to establish the Association of Small Computer Users in Education (ASCUE).[23] She went on to write four books in the field.[24] At the ACM/SIGUCC User Services Conference in 1975, Keller declared "we have not fully used a computer as the greatest interdisciplinary tool that has been invented to date."[25]

Keller died on January 10, 1985, at the age of 71.[23]

Bibliography

  • Keller, Mary Kenneth (1965). Inductive inference on computer generated patterns (PhD Thesis). Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin. (Doctoral Dissertation)
  • Computer graphics and applications of matrix methods : three dimensional computer graphics and projections by Mary K Keller; Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (U.S.); Undergraduate Mathematics and Its Applications Project (U.S.) Lexington, MA : COMAP/UMAP, 1983. U106, U110.[26]
  • Mathematical logic and probability with BASIC programming by William S Dorn, Herbert J Greenberg, and Mary K Keller. Prindle, Weber & Schmidt, 1973[16]
  • Electrical circuits and Applications of matrix methods : analysis of linear circuits Mary K Keller; Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (U.S.); Undergraduate Mathematics and Its Applications Project (U.S.), 1978. U108.[27]
  • Food service management and Applications of matrix methods : food service and dietary requirements by Mary K Keller; Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (U.S.); Undergraduate Mathematics and Its Applications Project (U.S.) Lexington, MA : COMAP/UMAP, 1983. U105, U109.[28]
  • Markov chains and applications of matrix methods : fixed point and absorbing Markov chains by Mary K Keller; Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (U.S.); Undergraduate Mathematics and Its Applications Project (U.S.) Lexington, MA : COMAP/UMAP, 1983. U107, U111.[29]

See also

References

  1. "Wisconsin State Journal, June 8, 1965". 8 June 1965.
  2. "Capital Times". 7 June 1965. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Gurer, Denise (January 1995). "Pioneering Women in Computer Science". Communications of the ACM. 38 (1): 45–54. doi:10.1145/204865.204875. S2CID 6626310.
  4. London, Ralph L (2013-01-15). "Who Earned First Computer Science Ph.D.?". Communications of the ACM. Retrieved 2019-10-25.
  5. Head, Jennifer; O’Leary, Dianne P. (2023-01-01). "The Legacy of Mary Kenneth Keller, First U.S. Ph.D. in Computer Science". IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 45 (1): 55–63. doi:10.1109/MAHC.2022.3231763. ISSN 1058-6180.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Gürer, Denise (June 2002). "Pioneering Women in Computer Science" (PDF). Communications of the ACM. 38 (1): 45–54. doi:10.1145/204865.204875. S2CID 6626310.
  7. Crezo, Adrienne (October 14, 2013). "First Female Ph.D. in Computer Science Was a Nun". Real Clear Science. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  8. "CS Prof From Iowa Was a 'Heroine of Computing' -- and a Nun". May 25, 2014.
  9. London, Ralph L. (15 January 2013). "Who Earned First Computer Science Ph.D.?". Communications of the ACM (blog). Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  10. Steel, Martha Vickers (11 December 2011), Women in computing: experiences and contributions within the emerging computing industry (PDF) (CSIS 550 History of Computing – Research Paper), archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2011, retrieved 1 August 2014
  11. 11.0 11.1 "UW-Madison Computer Science Ph.D.s Awarded, May 1965 - August 1970". Department of Computer Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Retrieved 2015-08-28., PhDs granted at UW-Madison Computer Sciences Department.
  12. "The Ada Project". www.women.cs.cmu.edu. Archived from the original on 2018-03-26. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  13. Gurer, Denise (January 1995). "Pioneering women in computer science". Communications of the ACM. 38 (1): 45–54. doi:10.1145/204865.204875. S2CID 6626310.
  14. "Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - BVM News". www.bvmcong.org. Archived from the original on 2017-09-02. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  15. Kurtz, Thomas E. (1981). "BASIC". In Wexelblat, Richard (ed.). History of Programming Languages I. New York: ACM. pp. 515–537. doi:10.1145/800025.1198404. ISBN 0127450408. S2CID 222095524.
  16. 16.0 16.1 Head, Jennifer; O'Leary, Dianne P. (2023). "The Legacy of Mary Kenneth Keller, First U.S. Ph.D. In Computer Science". IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 45: 55–63. arXiv:2208.01765. doi:10.1109/MAHC.2022.3231763. S2CID 257642795.
  17. "Sister Mary Kenneth Keller". The Ada Project: Pioneering Women in Computing Technology. Archived from the original on 2020-05-29. Retrieved 2014-11-09.
  18. National Science Foundation (1965). Grants and Awards for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1965. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. p. 98.
  19. About - National Women's History Museum - NWHM Archived 2012-05-10 at the Wayback Machine
  20. Dorn, Philip H. (April 1986). "Sister Mary Kenneth Keller". Annals of the History of Computing. 8 (2): 194. doi:10.1109/MAHC.1986.10042.
  21. Computer Center : Clarke University
  22. Mary Kenneth Keller Computer Science Scholarship - Clarke University Scholarships
  23. 23.0 23.1 "Brief Obituary for Sister Mary Kenneth Keller". Annals of the History of Computing. 8 (2): 194. 1986. doi:10.1109/MAHC.1986.10042.
  24. Keller, Mary Kenneth - Encyclopedia Dubuque
  25. Keller, Sister Mary Kenneth (December 1975). "The role of the university computer center in educational research (with remote hope)". ACM SIGUCCS Newsletter. 5 (4): 12–14. doi:10.1145/1098890.1098893. S2CID 21300012.
  26. "Computer Graphics and Applications of Matrix Methods: Three Dimensional Computer Graphics and Projections (UMAP) Sister Mary K. Keller". Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  27. "Electrical Circuits and Applications of Matrix Methods: Analysis of Linear Circuits (UMAP) Sister Mary K. Keller". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  28. "Food Service Management and Applications of Matrix Methods: Food Service and Dietary Requirements (UMAP) Sister Mary K. Keller". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  29. "Markov Chains and Applications of Matrix Methods: Fixed Point and Absorbing Markov Chains (UMAP) Sister Mary K. Keller". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.


Category:1913 births Category:1985 deaths Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic nuns Category:20th-century American women scientists Category:American computer programmers Category:American computer scientists Category:American women computer scientists Category:BASIC programming language Category:Catholics from Iowa Category:Clarke University faculty Category:DePaul University alumni Category:People from Dubuque, Iowa Category:Programming language designers Category:American software engineers Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni