Dagmar R. Henny

On Sept. 16, Dagmar R. Henny of Takoma Park, Md., passed away at the age of 92. A Holocaust survivor, Dagmar was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1931, fleeing the Nazis with her father during their reign. Her mother was murdered in Auschwitz in 1944. Dagmar was the first female student to receive a scholarship to the University of Miami from B’nai B’rith and was also admitted into the National Association of Science Writers. Dagmar arrived in the United States in 1951 in pursuit of a better life and a college degree at the age of 21. She enrolled at the University of Miami, where she continued to study mathematics, taking classes in nuclear physics and advanced calculus. At the age of 24, Dagmar graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in physics and minoring in mathematics and chemistry. It was during her freshman year in college that she met her future husband, Alan G. Henney, in a nuclear physics class. After graduating from the University of Miami, Dagmar and her husband moved to Takoma Park, Md., where they raised their only child, Alan, Jr. She was also the first woman to win her doctorate in pure mathematics in the history of the University of Maryland. She became a college mathematics professor at College Park and George Washington Universtiy. Dagmar’s accomplishments led to the recipient of several distinguished honors, ranging from her membership in Phi Beta Kappa to her distinction as a member of both Who’s Who of American Women and The World’s Who’s Who. She lived in Washington, D.C./Takoma Park for more than 65 years.In addition to her parents, Dagmar was preceded in death by her husband, Alan G. Henney, Sr. She is survived by her son, Alan Gilbert Henney, Jr.