Ruth Hendry is the first woman to have been the Senior Wrangler, which she was in 1992.
Hendry was a second-generation student at Queens' College, Cambridge. Her father, Tom, was the son of a woman who 'wasn't even sure where Cambridge was'. [1] Ruth's sisters followed her to Cambridge, Helen reading zoology at St John's and Kate graduating top of her year in geology, also at Queens'. (Kate is now chemical honorary professor at the University of Bristol and an oceanographer and marine biogeochemist in the Polar Oceans Team of the British Antarctic Survey. [2] [3] )
Hendry became the first female Senior Wrangler in 1992. [4] [5] [6] (In 1890 Philippa Fawcett had become the first woman to obtain the top score in the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos exam, [7] [8] but since she could not receive a degree from Cambridge due to being a woman, she could not be the Senior Wrangler. [9] [10] Cambridge did not offer degrees to women until 1948. [10] ) Hendry also received the Openshaw Prize in Mathematics while at Cambridge. [1]
Hendry progressed to a PhD, but became disillusioned with academia, moved to Wales, and runs a notary practice. She is quoted to have said, 'I sometimes think when I read my name on Wikipedia's Senior Wrangler page – is that really me?'. [1]
Queens' College has a mathematics prize in Hendry's honour; it is "The Ruth Hendry Prize – For an outstanding distinction in examinations by a fourth-year undergraduate." [11]