Flora Philip

Flora Philip (19 May 1865 – 14 August 1943) was a Scottish mathematician, one of the first women to receive a degree from the University of Edinburgh and the first female member of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society.

Biography 
She was born on 19 May 1865 in Tobermory, Mull to William Phillip, a civil engineer, and Isabella McDougall. She attended at Tain Academy and then moved to Edinburgh in 1883 to continue her education. At that time the law prevented women from studying at Scottish universities so she enrolled with the Edinburgh Association for the University Education of Women. In 1885 she was awarded the University of Edinburgh Certificate in Arts by University Principal Sir William Muir, for her studies in English literature, ethics, mathematics and physiology. 

In December 1886 she became the first female member of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society despite not having a formal university degree.

In 1889 the Universities (Scotland) Act was passed allowing women to be admitted to Scottish universities for the first time. Philip matriculated at the University of Edinburgh and received her degree for her previous studies. On 13 April 1893 she and seven other women graduated from the University, becoming the first women to do so.

Philip taught at the St George's High School for Girls in Edinburgh until her marriage in 1893 to lawyer, George Stewart.

Philip died in 1943 at a nursing home and is buried in Dean Cemetery.

References 

Category:1865 births
Category:1943 deaths
Category:Scottish mathematicians
Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Category:Women mathematicians