1809-1880

Benjamin Peirce is generally regarded as the first American research mathematician. Peirce was a professor of mathematics and astronomy at Harvard from 1833 to 1880. He also served in the important position of superintendent of the Coast Survey from 1867 to 1874. Peirce's most important work in mathematics was Linear Associative Algebra, in which he investigated various possible systems of algebra. Written and circulated privately in 1870, Linear Associative Algebra was published posthumously in 1881.