Philippa Fawcett - Definition

Philippa Garrett Fawcett (1868-1948) was an English mathematician and educationalist.

She came from a a remarkable family. She was the daughter of Millicent Fawcett, the suffragist and Henry Fawcett MP, Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge University. Her aunt was Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first English woman doctor. She was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge, and in 1890 was the first woman to come top of the Cambridge mathematics exams. However, only men were officially ranked at the time, so she did not receive the title of senior wrangler.

She worked for many years setting up schools in South Africa before returning to England to take a position in the administration of education in the London County Council.