mathematics

Mary Wheeler

Mary Wheeler is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mary Wheeler rather than just read about it. In short: Mary Fanett Wheeler (born December 28, 1938) is an American mathematician. She is known for her work on numerical methods for partial differential equations, including domain decomposition methods.

Key takeaways

Mary Wheeler belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mary Wheeler to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mary Wheeler from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mary Fanett Wheeler (born December 28, 1938) is an American mathematician. She is known for her work on numerical methods for partial differential equations, including domain decomposition methods. In 1998, Wheeler was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for "the computer simulation of subsurface flow and the underlying mathematical algorithms". In 2009 she was awarded the Theodore von Kármán Prize by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM).

Personal background Mary Fanett Wheeler was born on December 28, 1938, in Cuero, Texas. She earned a double major in social sciences and mathematics from the University of Texas in 1960, and a Master's degree in 1963. She did her masters thesis on the Peaceman-Rachford method, and later went on to do her Ph.D. under Rachford at Rice University in 1971.

Professional background Wheeler studies finite element analysis and porous media problems with applications in engineering, oil-field exploitation, and the cleaning up of environmental pollution. Her early work consisted of fundamental contributions to finite element methods and numerical analysis. She then moved into porous media problems, using her numerical expertise to study problems in the oil industry such as managing oil-field extraction. She also studies environmental problems such as cleaning up underground reservoirs, spills of toxic waste, and carbon dioxide sequestration. In addition, Wheeler has worked with the United States Army Corps of Engineers on environmental impact in the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, and Florida Bay. On the matter of pure versus applied math, Wheeler has been noted to say "To me it is important to see your work used. I do abstract things as well, and I don't know if I will live to see them applied." Wheeler worked at the Rice University from 1971 to 1995, with a two-year hiatus at University of Houston from 1988 to 1990. In 1995 she moved to the University of Texas at Austin (UT) where she serves as the director of the Center for Subsurface Modeling at the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences. She retired from UT in 2024. Wheeler is a Professional Engineer registered with the State of Texas since 1999. In 1989, she gave the prestigious Noether Lecture for the Association for Women in Mathematics in Phoenix, Arizona. Her talk was titled "Large Scale Modeling of Problems Arising in Flow in Porous Media".

Awards Noether Lecture (1989) Theodore von Kármán Prize (2009) Humboldt Prize (2011)

Memberships Fellow, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Society of Petroleum Engineers Fellow, International Association for Computational Mechanics National Academy of Engineering American Academy of Arts and Sciences

References

External links Mary Wheeler at the Mathematics Genealogy Project "Parallel Profile: Mary F. Wheeler". Parallel Computing Research Letter. January 1994. Retrieved 30 November 2012.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mary Wheeler

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mary Wheeler claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mary Wheeler before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mary Wheeler ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mary Wheeler

In research: Mary Wheeler appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mary Wheeler in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mary Wheeler is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1938 births, 20th-century American mathematicians, 20th-century American women mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mary Wheeler outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Mary Wheeler in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mary Wheeler means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mary Wheeler out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mary Wheeler in simple terms?

Mary Fanett Wheeler (born December 28, 1938) is an American mathematician. She is known for her work on numerical methods for partial differential equations, including domain decomposition methods.

Why does Mary Wheeler matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mary Wheeler?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mary Wheeler.