Bessie Irving Miller

Born in Baltimore on November 4, 1884, Bessie Irving Miller studied at the Woman’s College of Baltimore, now Goucher College, earning a B.A. in 1907. She continued her studies at the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins University, where she earned a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1914. Her research explored algebraic geometry and elliptic integrals, and her lecture notes are preserved in the Johns Hopkins University archives.

Miller taught at Kemper Hall in Wisconsin and later became head of mathematics and physics at Rockford College in Illinois. She also taught at the University of Illinois. Alongside her research papers, she wrote Romance in Science (1924), a book based on a course designed to introduce students to the excitement of scientific ideas. She died in Champaign, Illinois, on February 4, 1931.