Flora Philip
Flora Philip 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.
Early life
Flora Philip was born on 19 May 1865 in Tobermory, Mull to William Phillip, a civil engineer, and Isabella McDougall.Education
Philip attended at Tain Academy and then moved to Edinburgh in 1883 to continue her education. At the 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 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. A report on the graduation ceremony noted "a large attendance of the general public, many of whom were doubtless draw thither to witness the spectacle, seen for the first time in the history of this university, of ladies taking their places among the graduates."
Philip trained to teach at St George's Training College for Women Teachers, and taught at the St George's High School for Girls in Edinburgh until her marriage in 1893.