Winifred Asprey

American computer scientist and mathematician

Born: April 8, 1917 · Died: October 19, 2007

Famous Persons

Who was Winifred Asprey?

Winifred "Tim" Alice Asprey (April 8, 1917 – October 19, 2007) was an American mathematician and computer scientist. She was involved in developing the close contact between Vassar College and IBM that led to the establishment of the first computer science lab at Vassar. Asprey was born in Sioux City, Iowa; her parents were Gladys Brown Asprey, Vassar class of 1905, and Peter Asprey Jr. She had two brothers, actinide and fluorine chemist Larned B. Asprey (1919–2005), a signer of the Szilárd petition, and military historian and writer Robert B. Asprey (1923–2009) who dedicated several of his books to his sister Winifred. Asprey attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where she earned her undergraduate degree in 1938.

Historical significance

She was one of only around 200 women to earn PhDs in mathematics from American universities during the 1940s, a period of women's underrepresentation in mathematics at this level. As a student there, Asprey met Grace Hopper, the "First Lady of Computing," who taught mathematics at the time.

Sources and further reading

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APA

Winifred Asprey. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 27, 2026, from https://thisday.info/people/winifred-asprey/

Chicago

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