Virginia Ragsdale
| Virginia Ragsdale | |
|---|---|
Virginia Ragsdale
|
|
| Born |
December 13, 1870 Jamestown, North Carolina |
| Died | June 4, 1945 (aged 74) Greensboro, North Carolina |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
Guilford College Bryn Mawr College |
| Known for | Ragsdale conjecture |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Woman's College in Greensboro |
| Thesis | On the Arrangement of the Real Branches of Plane Algebraic Curves (1904) |
| Doctoral advisor | Charlotte Scott |
Virginia Ragsdale (December 13, 1870 - June 4, 1945) was a teacher and a mathematician specializing in algebraic curves. She is most known as the creator of the Ragsdale conjecture.
Ragsdale was born on a farm in Jamestown, North Carolina the third child of John Sinclair Ragsdale and Emily Jane Idol. John was an officer in the Civil War, a teacher in the Flint Hill School, and later a state legislator.
Virginia documented her early years in a paper titled "Our Early Home and Childhood", writing:
One of my earliest recollections was a little trundle bed where Ida [her sister] and I slept together. … The house had no conveniences. Water had to be carried from a spring at the foot of the hill, milk and butter were kept there, washing was done there.
In the first years or two, there were three or four boarders, boys or young men, who came to attend Father's school.
Grandma (Idol), mother and Aunt Julia had all done their bit before and during the war, weaving blankets (and) jeans for men's suits, which were sold to Greensboro merchants in exchange for silk and other goods.
As a junior, Ragsdale entered Salem Academy, and graduated in 1887 as valedictorian with an extra diploma in piano. Ragsdale attended Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she earned her B.S. in 1892. She was active in student life, establishing a Y.M.C.A. on campus, expanding collegiate athletics, and contributing to the formation the Guilford's Alumni Association.
Ragsdale was awarded the first scholarship from Bryn Mawr College for the top scholar Guilford College. She studied physics at Bryn Mawr College, obtaining an A.B. degree in 1896. She was elected European fellow for the class of 1896, but waited a year before traveling, working as an assistant demonstrator in physics and mathematics graduate student at Bryn Mawr.
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