Born in Providence RI in 1925, Joanne Elliott of Princeton NJ, passed away March 5, 2023 in Titusville NJ.
She received her Ph.D. in mathematics in 1950 from Cornell University with a thesis entitled On Some Singular Integral Equations of the Cauchy Type. This was at a time when women mathematicians were a rarity. Her distinguished career began with one year at Swarthmore College followed by an assistant professorship at Mount Holyoke College where she wrote the 1956 paper “Stochastic Processes Connected With Harmonic
Functions,” with William Feller. In the same year she relocated to Barnard College, teaching at Columbia University. By 1964, she had arrived at Douglass College of Rutgers University, and was Professor of Mathematics from 1965 until her retirement in 1991. She supervised five Ph.D. theses during 1967-1978.
Joanne was an inveterate reader who loved and supported music and the arts. She travelled extensively with her close friend, mathematician and photographer, Natascha Artin Brunswick. An avid birdwatcher, she and her friends Tanya and Milton Moss frequented the vicinity of the Atlantic flyway and visited other countries specifically to go birding.
On retiring from Rutgers, Joanne volunteered for many years interpreting mathematical texts at Reading for the Blind, (now Learning Ally). Throughout her life she supported numerous charities and derived much pleasure from so doing.
She was predeceased by her parents John Sanderson and Martha Hester (Robertson) Elliott, a brother Robert G. Elliott, and a nephew John S. Elliott.
Joanne is survived by her niece Debbie Reed, a cousin Julie Monson and many dear friends.
Burial will be private at the Princeton Cemetery. A commemoration of Joanne’s life will be planned for a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Nature Conservancy, the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, the Mercer County (NJ) Wildlife Center or Doctors Without Borders.
Arrangements are under the direction of Mather-Hodge Funeral Home.
