14 Facts About Philippa Fawcett

Philippa Garrett Fawcett was an English mathematician and educationalist.

Philippa Fawcett was the first woman to obtain the top score in the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos exams.

Philippa Fawcett taught at Newnham College, Cambridge, and at the normal school in Johannesburg, and she became an administrator for the London County Council.

Philippa Garrett Fawcett was born on 4 April 1868, the daughter of the suffragist Millicent Fawcett and Henry Fawcett MP, Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge and Postmaster General in Gladstone's second government.

Philippa Fawcett's aunt was Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first English female doctor.

Philippa Fawcett was educated at Bedford College, London and Newnham College, Cambridge which had been co-founded by her mother.

Philippa Fawcett's published papers include "Note on the Motion of Solids in a Liquid".

Philippa Fawcett was appointed a college lecturer in mathematics at Newnham College, a position she held for 10 years.

Philippa Fawcett left Cambridge in 1902, when she was appointed as a lecturer to train mathematics teachers at the Normal School in Johannesburg, then in Transvaal Colony, now part of the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Philippa Fawcett remained there, setting up schools throughout the country, until 1905, when she returned to Britain to take a position in the administration of education for London County Council.

Philippa Fawcett maintained strong links with Newnham College throughout her life.

The Philippa Fawcett building was named in recognition of her contribution to the college, and that of her family.

Philippa Fawcett died in Hendon on 10 June 1948, two months after her 80th birthday, a month after the Grace that allowed women to be awarded the Cambridge BA degree received royal assent.

The Philippa Fawcett Internship Programme is a summer research program at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences in the University of Cambridge.