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Marion Elizabeth Stark

American mathematician

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ42860908
Source-derived summary

Marion Elizabeth Stark (23 Aug 1894 – 15 April 1982) was an American mathematician. She was one of the first women to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics.

Education and career

She got her A.B. in 1916, and her A.M. in 1917, both from Brown University. In 1917, she became the professor of mathematics Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina. In autumn 1919, she started teaching in Wellesley College as a part-time instructor, while attending courses of Helen Abbot Merrill and Mabel M. Young. In the 1923 summer quarter, and, supported by a fellowship, in autumn 1924 through summer 1925, she studied at the University of Chicago where she received her Ph.D. in 1926.

In 1927, she was appointed assistant professor of mathematics at Wellesley, in 1936, she was promoted to an associate professor there. In 1945, she was promoted to a professorship; in 1946, she became Chairman of the Department. In 1960, she retired from Wellesley after 40 years, her last rank being a Lewis Atterbury Stimson Professor of Mathematics.

Recognition

Stark was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1938.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Marion Elizabeth Stark” as american mathematician. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Marion, Elizabeth and Stark.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1894, 1982, 1916, 1917—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1894-08-23. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Marion, Elizabeth and Stark providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Marion Elizabeth Stark”, the useful work is to connect “american mathematician” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q42860908. VIAF identifies the subject as 25623621. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1894, 1982, 1916 and 1917.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Marion Elizabeth Stark”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Marion Elizabeth Stark primary sources, Marion Elizabeth Stark archive and Marion research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Marion Elizabeth Stark” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.