Georgia Benkart, professor emerita of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin, died on April 29 in Madison, Wisconsin. She was 74 years old.
A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Professor Benkart was the valedictorian of her high school class. She was a summa cum laude graduate of Ohio State University, where she majored in mathematics. She went on to earn a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Wisconsin.
Dr. Benkart joined the faculty in the mathematics department at the University of Wisconsin in 1974. She was only the second woman appointed to a faculty post in the department.
Professor Benkart made many important contributions to the study of Lie algebras, the structure of algebras, quantum groups, representation theory, and combinatorics.
Dr. Benkart retired from teaching in 2006 as a full professor but remained active in her chosen field. Of her more than 130 published research papers, at least 45 were published after she retired from teaching. Dr. Benkart served as president of the Association for Women in Mathematics from 2009 to 2011 and was associate secretary for the American Mathematical Society from 2010 to 2022.