Thyrsa Frazier Svager
{{short description|African American mathematician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Thyrsa Frazier Svager
| image = Thyrsa_Frazier_Svager.jpg
| alt = Photo of Thyrsa Frazier Svager
| birth_name = Thyrsa Anne Frazier
| birth_date = {{birth date|1930|6|16}}
| birth_place = Wilberforce, Ohio
| death_date = {{death date and age|1999|7|23|1930|6|16}}
| death_place =
| fields = {{plainlist |
- Mathematics
}}
| workplaces = {{plainlist |
}}
| alma_mater =
{{plainlist |
}}
| known_for =
{{plainlist |
- One of the first African-American woman PhDs in mathematics
- Scholarship fund for African-American women in mathematics
}}
| notable_students =
}}
Thyrsa Anne Frazier Svager (June 16, 1930 – July 23, 1999) was an American academic who was one of the first African-American woman to gain a PhD in mathematics.{{cite journal|last1=Kenschaft|first1=PD|author-link=Patricia Clark Kenschaft|title=Black women in mathematics in the United States|journal=The American Mathematical Monthly|date=October 1981|volume=88|issue=8|pages=592–604|jstor=2320508|doi=10.1080/00029890.1981.11995321}} Born in Ohio, she graduated from high school at the age of 16, going to Antioch College in Ohio and then doing her postgraduate degrees at Ohio State University. Frazier Svager was the head of the Department of Mathematics at Central State University (CSU) in Ohio for decades, ending her academic career as provost and dean for academic affairs. She and her husband, physics professor Aleksandar Svager, invested one of their salaries during their careers to build a legacy for scholarships.{{cite news|url=https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200302/svager.cfm|title=APS Member Gives Minority Scholarship Fund a Boost|date=February 2003|work=APS News|publisher=American Physical Society|volume= 12|issue=2|accessdate=April 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506162704/https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200302/svager.cfm|archive-date=May 6, 2017}} After her death, the Thyrsa Frazier Svager Fund was established to provide scholarships for African-American women majoring in mathematics.
Early life and education
Frazier Svager was born Thyrsa Anne Frazier on June 16, 1930, in Wilberforce, Ohio.{{cite journal|last1=Houston|first1=Johnny L|title=Spotlight on a mathematician: Thyrsa Anne Frazier Svager 1930–1999|journal=National Association of Mathematics Newsletter|date=Summer 2000|volume=xxxi|issue=2|page=9|url=https://secure.portline.com/math/include/pages/files/newsletters/2000%20Summer.pdf|accessdate=April 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419003218/https://secure.portline.com/math/include/pages/files/newsletters/2000%20Summer.pdf|archive-date=April 19, 2017|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} Her mother, Elizabeth Anne Frazier, taught speech at Central State University (CSU), a historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Her father, G. Thuton Frazier, headed the Logistics Department at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.{{cite book|last1=Parks|first1=Rena E. Lacey|title=All the White Folks: A History of a People|date=2010|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|location=Bloomington, IN|isbn=978-1465328090|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xd6NAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT101|accessdate=April 16, 2017}} He was a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, holding the position of Provence Polemarch.{{cite news|title=Receive key to city|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/39508589/|accessdate=April 16, 2017|work=Xenia Daily Gazette|date=July 2, 1965}} Frazier Svager had three sisters, Gail, Constance and Jane, and a brother, William Lafayette.
Frazier Svager graduated from Wilberforce University Preparatory Academy in Ohio at the age of 16 in 1947, as class valedictorian. She attended Antioch College, a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, majoring in mathematics, with a minor in chemistry, and placed in the 99th percentile in the Princeton Senior Student Examination.{{cite news|title=Miss Frazier receives PhD at Ohio State|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/39513791/|accessdate=April 16, 2017|work=Xenia Daily Gazette|date=September 10, 1965}} Frazier Svager was one of only four black students at Antioch: one of the others was Coretta Scott King, with whom she was friends.{{cite web|title=Thyrsa Frazier Svager|url=https://daytonfoundation.academicworks.com/donors/thyrsa-frazier-svager|website=DaytonFoundation.AcademicWorks.com|publisher=The Dayton Foundation|accessdate=April 18, 2017}}
She gained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Antioch in 1951, going on to gain a master's (1952) and PhD from Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus in 1965, where Paul Reichelderfer was her doctoral advisor.{{cite web|last1=Kenschaft|first1=Patricia C|title=Thyrsa Anne Frazier Svager|url=http://www.maa.org/programs/underrepresented-groups/summa/summa-archival-record/thyrsa-frazier-svager|website=MAA.org|publisher=Mathematical Association of America|accessdate=April 16, 2017}}{{MathGenealogy|id=10120}} Her dissertation was titled "On the product of absolutely continuous transformations of measure spaces".{{cite book|last1=Frazier|first1=Thyrsa Anne|title=On the product of absolutely continuous transformations of measure spaces|date=1965|publisher=Ohio State University|location=Columbus, OH|url=https://etd.ohiolink.edu/pg_10?0::NO:10:P10_ETD_SUBID:125877|accessdate=April 11, 2017}}
Career
Frazier Svager worked for a year at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, before teaching at Texas Southern University in Houston. In 1954, she joined the faculty of CSU in Wilberforce.
In 1967, Frazier Svager was appointed chairman of the department of mathematics.{{cite news|title=Several CSU department heads are changing|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/39499114/|accessdate=April 16, 2017|work=Xenia Daily Gazette|issue=June 12, 1967}} She was awarded tenure in 1970.{{cite news|title=12 CSU faculty members promoted|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/42853956|accessdate=April 16, 2017|work=Xenia Daily Gazette|date=July 22, 1970}} She spent a summer in DC in 1966 as a systems analyst at NASA, as visiting faculty at MIT in 1969, and in 1985, she undertook postdoctoral study at OSU during the summer. She was provost and vice president for academic affairs when she retired in 1993. In March 1995, she returned for a short time to CSU as Interim President.
Frazier Svager was active on the issue of scholarships, serving as the president of the local chapter of MOLES, a national association that provided scholarships for college students.{{cite news|title=MOLES chapter headed by Thyrsa Svager|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/39539503/|accessdate=April 16, 2017|work=Xenia Daily Gazette|date=October 6, 1971}} She was also a member of Beta Kappa Chi, the National Association of Mathematicians, and the Mathematical Association of America, and was involved with Jack and Jill of America. Frazier Svager participated in the meeting that founded the National Association of Mathematics in 1969.
She wrote two books, CSU's Modern Elementary Algebra Workbook (1969),{{cite book|last1=Central State University, Department of Mathematics|title=Modern elementary algebra workbook|year=1972|publisher=W.C. Brown Book Co|location=Dubuque|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mSwhAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA829|accessdate=April 18, 2017}} and Essential Mathematics for College Freshmen (1976).{{cite book|last1=Central State University, Department of Mathematics|title=Essential mathematics for College freshmen|date=August 25, 1976|publisher=Kendall Hunt|location=Ohio|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_kshAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA2646|accessdate=April 18, 2017}}
Personal life
While on the CSU faculty, Frazier met Aleksandar Svager, a Holocaust survivor from Yugoslavia and physics professor at CSU. They married in June 1968 at her parents' home.{{cite news|title=Marriage solemnized Sunday|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/42848446/|accessdate=April 16, 2017|work=Xenia Daily Gazette|date=June 19, 1968}}
Thyrsa Frazier Svager died on July 23, 1999.{{cite web|title=Black women in mathematics: Thyrsa Frazier Svager|url=http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/PEEPS/svager_thyrsa_f.html|website=Math.Buffalo.Edu|publisher=Buffalo University|accessdate=April 18, 2017}}
Philanthropy
Both university professors with a strong commitment to furthering education opportunities, the Svagers lived on one income, investing the other to build a scholarship fund.{{cite web|title=Thrysa Frazier Svager: One of Dayton's Hidden Figures|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TTR_7cyqFQ|website=YouTube|publisher=The Dayton Foundation|accessdate=April 18, 2017}} After her death, her husband established the Thyrsa Frazier Svager Fund at the Dayton Foundation, for African-American women who major in mathematics at one of six universities, with a legacy contribution planned.{{cite web|title=Thyrsa Frazier Svager Scholarship Fund|url=https://daytonfoundation.academicworks.com/opportunities/4016|website=DaytonFoundation.AcademicWorks.com|publisher=The Dayton Foundation|accessdate=April 18, 2017}} As of February 2017, 33 women had received support from the Fund. An annual contribution is also being made to the American Physical Society's Minority Scholarship. Alongside her professional career, Thyrsa was active as a member of various civil and social organizations. She was a member of, among others, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (AKA), Twentieth Century Club, Wilberforce Chapter of Moles, and Volunteers of the African American Museum.{{Cite journal |last=Alpha |first=Alpha Kappa |date=1992 |title=Ivies Beyond the Wall |journal=Ivy Leaf |volume=69 |issue=4 |pages=71 |via=LexisNexis}}
Honors
Frazier Svager was honored with an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by CSU on her retirement, and she was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Greene County, Ohio.
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{MathGenealogy|id=10120}}
- Tribute to Thyrsa Frazier Svager [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TTR_7cyqFQ on YouTube] (Dayton Foundation).
- [https://daytonfoundation.academicworks.com/opportunities/4016 Thyrsa Frazier Svager Scholarship Fund].
- {{Find a Grave|114969831}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svager, Thyrsa Frazier}}
Category:African-American women academics
Category:20th-century African-American scientists
Category:20th-century American academics
Category:African-American mathematicians
Category:African-American women mathematicians
Category:20th-century American mathematicians
Category:People from Wilberforce, Ohio
Category:Central State University faculty
Category:Ohio State University Graduate School alumni
Category:Antioch College alumni
Category:American women academics
Category:Texas Southern University faculty