Solving the Equation

Lorraine Lois Foster (PhD ‘64) demonstrates her skill at dissecting mathematical matrices—the topic of her dissertation, which secured her place as the first woman ever to earn a PhD in Mathematics from Caltech. Foster was born in Culver City, California, in 1938 and received her undergraduate physics degree from Occidental College in 1960. After graduating from Caltech, she became a faculty member at California State University, Northridge, working in Number Theory and Mathematical Symmetry, and ended her career at CSUN as Professor Emerita of Mathematics.