Olga Taussky-Todd; Noted Mathematician

Olga Taussky-Todd, one of the most prominent women mathematicians in the United States, who applied the matrix theory to designing airplanes and spaceships, has died. She was 89.

Mrs. Todd, who was named a Times Woman of the Year in 1963 in honor of her lifetime achievements, died at her home in Pasadena a few weeks ago, Caltech spokesmen said Friday.

She had been a professor of mathematics at Caltech for 20 years, retiring in 1977.

Born in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia, she earned her doctorate at the University of Vienna in 1930.

With a Yarrow Research Fellowship at Girton College in Cambridge, she was awarded an honorary master’s degree in 1937 only after the British Parliament changed statutes to permit Cambridge to give the degree to women. She then taught at the University of London, where she met her husband, John, also a Caltech professor of mathematics emeritus.

During World War II, the couple were scientific consultants to the British Ministry of Aircraft Production. She spent the war analyzing flutter problems in combat aircraft. She and her husband moved to the United States in 1947.