Ellen Hayes

Ellen Amanda Hayes (1851 - 1930) American mathematician, astronomer, labor rights activist and suffragist.

Born of a Union Army officer and a teacher, Ellen was as a child as interested in literature, sports and politics as she was in gardening. Admitted to Oberlin College in 1872, Hayes focused her studies on science and mathematics, but did not neglect to study history and literature. After graduating, Hayes briefly taught at Adrian College but soon moved to Wellesley College. In 1888, Hayes worked at the University of Virginia’s McCormick Observatory, calculating the orbit of the newly discovered asteroid 267 Tirza, and developed equations to calculate shadows of asteroids and other heavenly bodies. At Wellesley in 1897 appointed head of the applied mathematics department. Her colleagues questioned her admissions policies and complained her trigonometry textbook caused many students to get low grades. She was demoted, and after retiring in 1916, was denied the title professor emeritus. She intensified her activist activities.