In Memoriam: Caren L. Diefenderfer

Caren L. Diefenderfer, a professor of mathematics at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia, died on March 30.

Dr. Diefenderfer grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She attended Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, but transferred to become one of the first women to enroll at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. She graduated from Dartmouth and went on to earn a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Professor Diefenderfer joined the faculty at Hollins University in 1977. In January of this year, she was presented with the Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award from the Mathematical Association of America. The award honors a scholar whose teaching effectiveness has had influence beyond their own institution.