Abstract
Jean E. Sammet was born on 23 March 1928, in New York City. Her parents, Harry and Ruth Sammet, were both lawyers. Harry’s legal practice included wills and estates; Ruth stopped working when she married. Jean and her younger sister, Helen, attended public elementary schools in Manhattan. Jean’s interest in mathematics surfaced at a very young age but she could not attend the Bronx High School of Science because it didn’t accept girls. Instead, Jean went to Julia Richman High School, an all-girls’ public school, where she took every available math course. After examining a number of college catalogs from women’s colleges, Jean chose Mount Holyoke on the strength of its mathematics program. Jean majored in mathematics and took enough education courses to be certified to teach high school mathematics in New York; she minored in political science. After graduation, Jean pursued graduate studies at the University of Illinois, receiving her MA in 1949. She was a teaching assistant in the Mathematics department from 1948 to 1951 while taking courses toward a PhD. In 1951, Jean began looking for a teaching position. New York City was not hiring new high school teachers [3B2-8] man2009010076.3d 12/2/09 14:3 Page 76
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