Doris Schattschneider
Mathematician known for tessellations and M. C. Escher.
Doris J. Schattschneider (born Wood) is an American mathematician who spent most of her career at Moravian College, retiring as a professor there. Her expertise lies in tessellations and the work of M. C. Escher. She also played a key role in verifying and bringing attention to the pentagon tiling discoveries made by amateur mathematician Marjorie Rice, and she co-directed the team that created The Geometer's Sketchpad.
Schattschneider grew up on Staten Island. Her mother, Charlotte Lucile Ingalls Wood, taught Latin and was the daughter of a local school principal; her father, Robert W. Wood, Jr., worked as an electrical engineer for New York City’s Bureau of Bridge Design. During World War II, the family moved to Lake Placid, New York, where her father served as an engineer for the U.S. Army. She started school there but returned to Staten Island after the war. She earned her undergraduate degree in mathematics from the University of Rochester and completed a Ph.D. at Yale University in 1966, jointly advised by Tsuneo Tamagawa and Ichirô Satake, with a thesis on restricted roots of a semi-simple algebraic group. After teaching for a year at Northwestern University and three years at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, she joined Moravian College in 1968, staying for 34 years until retirement. From 1981 to 1985, she was the first female editor of *Mathematics Magazine*. She was married for 54 years to the Rev. Dr. David A. Schattschneider (1939–2016), a church historian and dean of Moravian Theological Seminary; their daughter, Laura Ellen Schattschneider, is a lawyer.
The story of Schattschneider and Marjorie Rice began when Rice, an amateur mathematician in San Diego, became intrigued by Martin Gardner’s *Scientific American* articles on pentagonal tile tessellations. Using her own notation system, Rice discovered a previously unknown type of pentagon tiling in February 1976. She sent her drawings to Gardner, who forwarded them to Schattschneider, an expert on tiling patterns. Initially skeptical, Schattschneider carefully examined the work and confirmed its validity. She then helped Gardner publicize Rice’s findings, praising them as a major achievement by an amateur. In 1995, at a Mathematical Association of America regional meeting in Los Angeles, Schattschneider persuaded Rice and her husband to attend her lecture on Rice’s work.
Quick Facts
- Birth Date
- October 19, 1939
- Birth Place
- Staten Island, New York
- Fields
- Mathematics
- Workplaces
- Moravian College
- Education
- Yale University
- Doctoral Advisor
- Tsuneo Tamagawa / Ichirô Satake
- Thesis Title
- Restricted Roots of a Semi-simple Algebraic Group
- Thesis Year
- 1966
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Doris Schattschneider was born in Staten Island to Charlotte Lucile Ingalls Wood, a Latin teacher, and Robert W. Wood, Jr., an electrical engineer. During World War II, her family moved to Lake Placid, New York, where she began schooling; they returned to Staten Island after the war. She earned her Ph.D. in 1966 from Yale University under Tsuneo Tamagawa and Ichirô Satake, with a thesis on restricted roots of a semi-simple algebraic group. She taught at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle before joining Moravian College in 1968, where she remained for 34 years. She was the first female editor of Mathematics Magazine, from 1981 to 1985.
Schattschneider was married for 54 years to the Rev. Dr. David A. Schattschneider, a church historian and Dean of Moravian Theological Seminary; their daughter Laura Ellen Schattschneider is a lawyer.
In 1976, amateur mathematician Marjorie Rice discovered a new type of pentagon tiling and sent her work to Martin Gardner, who forwarded it to Schattschneider. Initially skeptical, Schattschneider validated Rice's results and helped publicize them. In 1995, at a Mathematical Association of America meeting in Los Angeles, Schattschneider introduced Rice to the audience, who gave her a standing ovation.
Reader's Guide
Doris Schattschneider's significance lies in her contributions to the study of tessellations and her role in bringing amateur mathematical discoveries to professional attention. Her validation of Marjorie Rice's pentagon tilings demonstrated the value of non-professional mathematicians and led to a celebrated moment of recognition. She also co-directed the development of The Geometer's Sketchpad, a dynamic geometry software that transformed mathematics education. Her expository writing earned the Carl B. Allendoerfer Award in 1979, and she received the Deborah and Franklin Haimo Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1993. As a fellow of the American Mathematical Society (2012) and the first female editor of Mathematics Magazine, she advanced both mathematical research and pedagogy. Her books on M. C. Escher, including Visions of Symmetry, have become standard references. Her legacy includes fostering appreciation for visual mathematics and supporting amateur contributors to the field.
Did You Know?
- Schattschneider was the first female editor of Mathematics Magazine, serving from 1981 to 1985.
- She validated the pentagon tiling discoveries of amateur mathematician Marjorie Rice in 1976.
- She co-directed the project that developed The Geometer's Sketchpad.
- She delivered the Martin Gardner Lecture at MathFest in August 2021.
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