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For Naomi, it meant this: she couldn’t go for a Ph.D. in mathematics, but she was permitted to complete a Ph.M., a master of philosophy, that’s something between a master’s and a Ph.D., which Nic says was closer to a teaching credential.

Katie Hafner: So Naomi finished that Ph.M. degree in 1939, and then, along came someone who would help set the course of her career.