The math pioneer who faced down sexism and the Nazis

+ Sarah Baartman and Black empowerment US Edition - Today's top story: Emmy Noether faced sexism and Nazism – 100 years later her contributions to ring theory still influence modern math [View in browser]( US Edition | 15 July 2021 [The Conversation]( Academic rigor, journalistic flair I still remember the feeling I had – like missing a step – when my professor first referred to the brilliant mathematician Emmy Noether as “she.” Even though I am a woman studying mathematics, I had assumed Noether would be a man, as so many other of the “greats” we studied were. It surprised me how moved I was to learn she was a woman, too. Looking deeper into Noether’s life, I discovered that her career path was not easy: She was a Jewish woman at a time when neither Jews nor women were welcome in German academia. She fought sexism for years to get the professorship she deserved – and lost her job almost instantly when the Nazis came to power. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Noether’s groundbreaking paper on ring theory, and [in my story for The Conversation](, I explore how her journey and mathematical contributions have inspired mathematicians like me right up to today. Also today: - [Young ‘exvangelicals’ on why they left the faith]( - [High-tide floods are more than a nuisance]( - [A scholar who served in Afghanistan on the US pullout]( Tamar Lichter Blanks AAAS Mass Media Fellow Emmy Noether made significant contributions to theoretical mathematics. Konrad Jacobs, Erlangen/Wikimedia Commons [Emmy Noether faced sexism and Nazism – 100 years later her contributions to ring theory still influence modern math]( Tamar Lichter Blanks, Rutgers University A century after publishing major papers in theoretical mathematics, German-born Emmy Noether continues to challenge and inspire mathematicians with her story and mathematical legacy. 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