Mary-Elizabeth Hamstrom, 82, prominent University of Illinois Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, died unexpectedly but peacefully at 10:21 Wednesday morning, December 2, 2009, at Provena Covenant Medical Center in Urbana, after several years of declining health. A Celebration of Life to commemorate her life and accomplishments is planned for Sunday, January 31, 2010, at 2 p.m., in Room 314, Altgeld Hall, on the University of Illinois campus, Urbana, Illinois.

Born in Pittsburgh, PA on May 24, 1927, Mary-Elizabeth was the eldest of three daughters of Edward Hamstrom and Mabel Kerr Hamstrom. Her sisters, Barbara Dolotta of Princeton, NJ and Joanne Hamstrom of Philadelphia, PA survive, as do three nephews, Peter Dolotta of Manhattan, NY, David Dolotta of Santa Barbara, CA, and Michael Dolotta, of Los Angeles, CA, two grand-nieces, and two grand-nephews.

Mary-Elizabeth received her AB degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1948. During her senior year, having been accepted for graduate study in mathematics at the University of Texas and awarded a scholarship, she wrote to Prof. R. L. Moore at Texas to inquire what she should study during the coming summer to prepare for her forthcoming graduate work. Prof. Moore’s startling response urged her not to read anything in the field of her proposed coursework. His letter, in which he described what is now called the Moore (or Texas) Method of instruction, is of considerable importance in the history of mathematics education.

Mary-Elizabeth completed her Ph.D. in 1952 with Moore as her advisor and took a position at Goucher College in Baltimore, where she remained (apart from spending the academic year 1956-57 at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton) until accepting a position as Associate Professor at the University of Illinois in September of 1961. She was promoted to full professor in 1966, one of just four female full professors in the entire College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at that time. She held visiting appointments at the University of Warwick in England and at the University of North Carolina. An authority in pointset and geometric topology with special interest in spaces of homeomorphisms of manifolds, she authored or coauthored at least 24 research articles in professional journals. She supervised ten Ph.D. dissertations, the most recent in 1999. She retired in May of 1999 but remained an active and valued member of the Department for years after her retirement.

Mary-Elizabeth spent each summer at her summer home in Woods Hole, MA. An active runner, swimmer, and biker until slowed by failing health, she was an avid supporter of Illini sports, especially basketball. She was a defender of liberal causes and of women’s rights and a generous contributor to the University of Illinois. She loved dogs, and was frequently seen walking her dog on Nobska Beach at Woods Hole or in her Urbana neighborhood. A lovely, gentle lady, she will be greatly missed by her colleagues and her many friends and neighbors.

Memorials may be made to the Partnership Fund of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Illinois or to the Champaign County Humane Society.

Heath and Vaughn Funeral Home, 201 N. Elm, Champaign, is handling arrangements.

Condolences may be offered online at www.heathandvaughn.com.