Kathleen Ollerenshaw

Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw

Signing a book in the Alan Turing Building
Born Kathleen Mary Timpson
(1912-10-01)1 October 1912
Withington, Manchester, England, UK
Died 10 August 2014(2014-08-10) (aged 101)
Didsbury, England, UK
Fields Magic square
Lattices
Institutions University of Manchester
Alma mater Somerville College, Oxford
Thesis  (1945)
Doctoral advisor Theodore William Chaundy
Spouse Robert Ollerenshaw
(1939–1986, his death)
Children 2

Dame Kathleen Mary Ollerenshaw, née Timpson, DBE (1 October 1912 – 10 August 2014) was a British mathematician and politician who was Lord Mayor of Manchester from 1975 to 1976 and an advisor on educational matters to Margaret Thatcher's government in the 1980s.

Early life and education

Born Kathleen Mary Timpson, Ollerenshaw was born in Withington, Manchester, where she attended Lady Barn House School (1918-1926). Deaf since the age of eight, her fascination with mathematics was inspired by her Lady Barn headmistress, Miss Jenkin Jones. It was during her time at Lady Barn that she met her future husband, Robert Ollerenshaw. Today, Lady Barn House School recognises her as a 'Lady Barn legend' and she features heavily in a major historical display in the school Dining Room.

As a young woman, she attended St Leonards School and Sixth Form College in St Andrews, Scotland where today the house of young male boarders is named after her. At the age of 19 she gained admittance to Somerville College, Oxford, to study mathematics. She completed her doctorate at Somerville in 1945 on "Critical Lattices" under the supervision of Theo Chaundy. She wrote five original research papers which were sufficient for her to earn her DPhil degree without the need of a formal written thesis.

While an undergraduate, she became engaged to Colonel Robert Ollerenshaw, who became a distinguished military surgeon, a pioneer of medical illustration. They married in September 1939 and had two children, Charles (1941-1999) and Florence (1946-1972). In 1942 she suffered a miscarriage and "cried nonstop for three days" as a result of stress when her husband was suddenly mobilised and deployed for war.[1]

Career

After the Second World War, the Ollerenshaws moved to Manchester, where Kathleen worked as a part-time lecturer in the mathematics department at Manchester University while raising her children and continued her work on lattices. In 1949, at the age of 37, she received her first effective hearing aid.

Kathleen Ollerenshaw, aged 95, at Manchester Astronomical Society in 2007

Outside of academics, Ollerenshaw served as a Conservative Councillor for Rusholme for twenty-six years (1956–1981), Lord Mayor of Manchester (1975–1976), High Sheriff of Greater Manchester from 1978 to 1979, and the prime motivator in the creation of the Royal Northern College of Music. She was made a Freeman of the City of Manchester and was an advisor on educational matters to Margaret Thatcher's government in the 1980s.

She was President of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications from 1978 to 1979.[2] She published at least 26 mathematical papers, her best-known contribution being to most-perfect pandiagonal magic squares.[3] An annual public lecture at the School of Mathematics, University of Manchester, is named in her honour.[4]

An amateur astronomer, Ollerenshaw donated her telescope to Lancaster University, and an observatory there bears her name. She was an honorary member of the Manchester Astronomical Society and held the post of Vice President for a number of years.

Ollerenshaw attended St Leonards School in St Andrews, Fife, and served as the school's president from 1981 to 2003. She was succeeded by Baroness Byford, Conservative spokeswoman in the House of Lords. She turned 100 in October 2012.[5]

She died in Didsbury on 10 August 2014, at the age of 101.[6] Her husband and both their children had predeceased her.

Miscellanea

Honours

In 1970, Ollerenshaw was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to education.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Centenarian Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw — Conqueror of Magic Squares, Rubik's Cube and Mauna Kea". Scientific American. Nature Publishing Group. September 18, 2012.
  2. ↑ "IMA Presidents". Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  3. ↑ IMA Publications
  4. ↑ Manchester Institute for Mathematical Sciences
  5. ↑ "The 2012 Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Lecture". News. University of Manchester. 2012-10-03. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  6. ↑ Emma Flanagan (12 August 2014). "Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw former Lord Mayor of Manchester dies aged 101". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2014-08-12.
  7. ↑ Listing from Naxos.com

Bibliography

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