LOUISE DUFFIELD CUMMINGS
1870 - 1947
Louise Duffield Cummings, who died in Wayne,Michigan,
on the 9th of May,1947, at the age of,77, brought
distinction to Vassar College by her unusual accom-
plishments in her field, during her 33 years of ser-
vice here. In her undergraduate work at the Univer-
sity of Toronto, and in graduate study and research
at the Universities of Pennsylvania and Chicago, as
well as at Bryn Mawr where she took her doctorate,
she won recognition through various honors and
awards which culminated in the honorary Doctorate in
science at Toronto. Her many researches which were
chiefly in number systems, correspondencies, systems
of configurations, nets, and group theory, appeared
in mathematical Journals published in the United
States and abroad. This research of many years which
contributed to Vassar's name beyond our area, de-
creased only when she retired, in 1935, because of
poor health.
The clarity of Miss Cummings’ teachin and the friend-
ly atmosphere she created in her class room were well
appreciated by her students who knew her to be a
friend as well as teacher. She was enjoyed by the
whole community as a happy, active member of the
social group, contributing pleasure through her pun-
gent wit and delightful humor. In all situations she
was resourceful and helpful, creating in others a
repose of soul by her own quiet and unworried re-
sponse to life's disturbances. All who knew her
counted her a most generous, loyal friend in whose
welcome lay wannth, and in whose companionship were
both stimulus and happy comfort. Hers was a large
and rich soul.
Paul A. Northrop
Mary Evelyn Wells
XII - 158