Joanne Moldenhauer
Joanne K. Moldenhauer (née Gatz, March 15, 1928 – February 14, 2016) was an American high school mathematics teacher and two-time winner of the Edyth May Sliffe Award.[1]
Education[edit]
Moldenhauer's father served in the United States Army. She was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and attended Benson High School in Omaha. She graduated in 1949 from the Iowa State College, with a degree in physics,[1] hoping to go on to a research career in physics was but blocked from that goal because there were few places for women in physics at the time.[2]
Career[edit]
After graduating from Iowa State, Moldenhauer became a high school mathematics teacher in Omaha, and two years later became a student again at the University of Minnesota. She completed a master's degree in mathematics at Minnesota in 1952, and started work as an electrical engineer at General Electric.[1] Her job there involved the development of fire-control systems for military aircraft. However, bored with her work, she soon returned to high school teaching.[2] In 1955 she became a high school teacher in Schenectady, New York, where she had been working for General Electric, and in 1956 she moved to Davis Senior High School in Davis, California.[1]
After 50 years as a teacher in Davis, Moldenhauer retired in 2006.[2]
Contributions and recognition[edit]
Moldenhauer won the Edyth May Sliffe Award for Distinguished High School Mathematics Teaching of the Mathematical Association of America twice, in 1990 and 2001.[3] She was also a winner of Stanford University's Frederick Emmons Terman Engineering Award, given annually by the graduating engineering students at Stanford to a distinguished high school teacher. She was a two-time winner of Harvey Mudd College's Distinguished Teaching Award.[1] Unusually for a high school mathematics teacher, Moldenhauer has an Erdős number of 2, from her collaboration with mathematician Sherman K. Stein and mechanical engineer Anthony S. Wexler on "Trigonometry and a Wood Bowl".[4][5]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e "Joanne K. Moldenhauer", Obituaries, Davis Enterprise, p. A4, February 21, 2016
- ^ a b c Krauth, Monica (June 16, 2006), "Math teacher retires after 50 years", Daily Democrat
- ^ High School Mathematics Teaching Edyth May Sliffe Award, Mathematical Association of America, retrieved 2019-09-21
- ^ Moldenhauer, J.; Stein, S. K.; Wexler, A. S. (October–November 2007), "Trigonometry and a Wood Bowl", The Oregon Mathematics Teacher
- ^ "People with Erdős number equal to 2", Erdős number project, retrieved 2019-09-21
- 1928 births
- 2016 deaths
- 20th-century American mathematicians
- American women mathematicians
- American mathematics educators
- Schoolteachers from Nebraska
- American women educators
- Iowa State University alumni
- University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni
- 20th-century American women
- 21st-century American women