Evelyn Silvia
Evelyn Marie Silvia was an American mathematician specializing in functional analysis and particularly in starlike functions. She was a professor at the University of California, Davis, and as well as teaching mathematics at the undergraduate and graduate levels there, was active in the improvement of secondary-school mathematics education.
Education
Silvia was born in Fall River, Massachusetts.A seventh-grade mathematics teacher told her she was the best student he had ever seen, a moment that built her confidence in the subject and led her to become a mathematician.
She graduated from Southeastern Massachusetts University in 1969, with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. Continuing her graduate education at Clark University, she earned a master's degree in 1973 and completed her Ph.D. in 1973. Her doctoral dissertation, Classes Related to Alpha-Starlike Functions, was supervised by Herb Silverman.
Career
Silvia joined the UC Davis faculty in 1973, and remained there until retiring and becoming a professor emeritus shortly before her death.Beyond her work as a mathematics professor, Silvia worked as a volunteer teacher of mathematics in local elementary and secondary schools. In the 1970s, she directed a master's-level teaching program at UC Davis, and in the 1990s, she headed the Northern California Math Project, an effort to improve mathematics education throughout Northern California.