Emmy Noether
1882-1935

Born in Erlangen, daughter of the German mathematician Max Noether. Worked on invariants with Paul Gordan of Clebsch-Gordan coefficients. Ph.D. thesis submitted 1906, accepted summa cum laude, 1908. Moved to Göttingen, then the center of mathematics in Germany, in 1915 to work with Hilbert. Hilber was initially unable to obtain a junior appointment (Privatdozent) for her despite her outstanding work. Noether lectured unofficially at Göttingen under Hilbert's auspices until she received an appointment as Privatdozent (not a paying job) in 1919. Appointed unofficial ("extraordinary") associate professor (still not a real job) in 1922. Moved to Bryn Mawr College in 1933 after Hitler came to power in Germany. Lectured frequently at the Institute for Advanced Study. Died in 1935 following an operation.

Noether's work on invariants and "Noether's theorem", published in 1918, clarified the connection between symmetries and constants of the motion in dynamical systems. The theorem is crucial in modern quantum field theory. Went on in the 1920s to establish and lead the field of modern abstract algebra using the now-standard conceptual, axiomatic approach.

Anecdote: When unable to persuade the primarily nonscientific faculty to grant Noether an appointment, Hilbert is reported to have said to them "Meine Herren, I do not see that the sex of the candidate is an argument against her admission as Privatdozent. After all, the university is not a bathhouse."