Caroline Furness

Caroline Furness (1869-1936).
Credit: Vassar College

Caroline Furness had an early love for all of nature. Born in Cleveland, Ohio in June 1869, Furness was fond of natural history and archaeology, not to mention plants and birds as well. After graduating from high school, Furness entered Vassar College with a four-year scholarship. It was here where Furness met Mary Whitney, the director of the observatory at the time, who would become a great influence in her life. After graduating from Vassar College in 1891, Furness taught high school mathematics in Ohio and Connecticut before being called back to Vassar College in 1894 to aide Whitney with the astronomy program. The program had grown to 160 students in eight courses, so Whitney hired Furness to assist with teaching and running the observatory from 1894 to 1898. From this experience, Furness realized that she wanted a formal position where she could teach while doing her own research at the college level.

Encouraged by Whitney's confidence in her, Furness entered the graduate program in astronomy at Columbia University. She worked under the guidance of Harold Jacoby and successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis entitled A Catalogue of Stars Within One Degree of the North Pole, and Optical Distortion of the Helsingfors Astro-photographic Telescope in 1900. Furness was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in astronomy from Columbia University. In 1903, Vassar College appointed Furness as an instructor of astronomy, and by 1911, she had become an associate professor. Upon Whitney's retirement, Furness succeeded her as head of Vassar College's astronomy department and as the director of the Vassar College Observatory.

Furness's own research focused on comets and asteroids, but she is best known for her work on variable stars (which she had begun during her undergraduate career with Whitney). She took it upon herself to write a new astronomy textbook on variable stars, the end result being the highly influential An Introduction to the Study of Variable Stars, published in 1915. [Note: a free online copy of the book can be found on the Cornell University Library Catalog]. Her former teacher left a resounding impact on Furness, as seen by the book's dedication: "Dedicated to Mary W. Whitney, in memory of many happy hours spent together in the pursuit of our loved science."

Caroline Furness's influential book on variable stars.

During her sabbatical year (1918-1919), Furness journeyed to various observatories and visited numerous astronomers from around the around. Strongly believing that women of all lands should have the chance to further their education, she took advantage of every opportunity to talk with women and attend their gatherings in the numerous countries she visited. Furness was also an active supporter of her students, encouraging them to attend meetings and conferences and sponsoring their presentations. Throughout her extensive career, Furness educated and inspired countless women astronomers, contributing to numerous discoveries and helping to uncover the mysteries of the universe.

After Furness's passing in 1936, Maud Worcester Makemson became Director of Vassar College Observatory - see this post.