In Memoriam: 2016

Mario Martelli passed away on December 30, 2016, at the age of 79. He was professor emeritus at California State University, Fullerton, and a member of the MAA for 34 years. Martelli was an expert in differential equations and boundary value problems, with an active program of research with undergraduates. In 1995, he received the Outstanding Teacher Award of the entire California State University system. He was active in the MAA, particularly the Committee on Undergraduate Student Activities & Chapters, and he was a key organizer of the student poster session for several years. More information about Martelli’s life and career can be found in this citation from the Southern California Section (which awarded him the Certificate for Meritorious Service in 2000), this article from Cal State, and his obituary.

Anthony Keeping passed away on December 25, 2016. He lived in the United Kingdom for several decades and was on the faculty of the University of Missouri in 1970. Keeping was a member of the MAA for 51 years.

Felix Browder passed away on December 10, 2016, at the age of 89. Browder was a faculty member at the University of Chicago for over 20 years before moving to Rutgers University for the latter part of his career, where he served as Vice President for Research. Browder was a pioneer in nonlinear function analysis – an example being the publication in 1965 of what is now known as the Browder Fixed Point Theorem. He was also a well-known leader in the scientific community and served as the President of the AMS. Browder was a member of the MAA for 24 years and a Putnam fellow. Much more information about his life and career can be found in an article in The Washington Post, a remembrance from the University of Chicago, his biography in the MacTutor archive, and an interview with Browder in the AMS Notices.

C. Wayne Patty passed away on December 8, 2016, at the age of 84. He was a professor emeritus at Virginia Tech and a member of the MAA for 58 years. Patty was the author of several textbooks including Foundations of Higher Mathematics (with Peter Fletcher) and Foundations of Topology. More information about his life and career can be found in his obituary.

William F. Trench passed away on December 4, 2016, at the age of 85. He was a member of the MAA for 63 years and the former Cowles Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Trinity University. He also was a professor at Drexel University for more than two decades. To help students with the problem of affordability of textbooks, Trench provided open access online to his textbooks on real analysis and differential equations. More information about his career can be found in this article from Trinity University.

W. Wistar Comfort passed away on November 28, 2016, at the age of 83. Comfort was Professor Emeritus at Wesleyan University and a member of the MAA for 62 years. Comfort worked principally in general topology, publishing three books and about 150 papers. He was active in professional organizations, especially the American Mathematical Society. Among his contributions to the AMS was his service as Associate Secretary and Council member for many years. In addition, he was a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society. More information about his life and career can be found in an interview with Comfort in 1997 and an obituary written by his daughter that was published in the AMS Notices (see page 275).

T. S. Michael passed away on November 22, 2016, at the age of 56. He was a professor at the U.S. Naval Academy until his death. He was known for his book How to Guard an Art Gallery and Other Discrete Mathematical Adventures and won the MAA Pólya Award in 2012 for a related article “Guards, Galleries, Fortresses and the Octoplex”. In 2016, he was awarded the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award for his outstanding work as a teacher and scholar. His deep impact on students and colleagues can be seen in several remembrances (#1 #2 #3 #4) and his obituary.

Dennison R. Brown passed away on November 19, 2016, at the age of 82. He was a member of the MAA for 60 years and Professor Emeritus at the University of Houston. More information about his life and career can be found in his obituary.

Elaine M. Hubbard passed away on November 18, 2016, at the age of 66.  She was Professor Emeritus at Kennesaw State University, after retiring in 2003, and a member of the MAA for 51 years.  Hubbard was the author of 13 textbooks in mathematics and was known for use of technology of teaching.  More information about her life and career, as well as commentary from several people, can be found in an appreciation published by Georgia Tech, an announcement of a scholarship in her name, and her obituary.

Max A. Sobel passed away on November 11, 2016, at the age of 92. He was a professor at Montclair State University until his retirement, and a member of the MAA for 48 years. Sobel served as the President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and in 1998 he was received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mathematics Education Trust. He also served as the Chair of the New Jersey section of the MAA. More information about his life and career can be found in his obituary and this remembrance from Montclair State University.

Cris Roosenraad passed away on October 24, 2016, at the age of 75. He had emeritus status at Carleton College, based on his service as a Senior Lecturer in mathematics, and as Dean of Students. Roosenraad originated the course for training new teachers of AP calculus at Carleton’s Summer Teaching Institute, and he was a member of the MAA for 54 years. More information about his life and career can be found in his obituary. In addition, comments from colleagues and students can be found on this Carleton page.

Joseph Rotman passed away on October 16, 2016, at the age of 82. He was a professor emeritus in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a member of the MAA for 58 years. Rotman was the author of nearly a dozen textbooks in algebra and topology, as well as the text Journey into Mathematics, which is used in bridge courses that introduce proof. Information about Rotman’s life and career can be found in his obituary.

Jacob K. Goldhaber passed away on October 7, 2016, at the age of 92. Goldhaber was Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland, College Park, until his retirement, and a member of the MAA for 66 years. Goldhaber specialized in algebra and served as the Dean of Graduate Studies at Maryland. He is described in a number of historical reflections on the UMD Department of Mathematics web site. His obituary is also available.

Joseph Dela Rutledge passed away on October 3, 2016, at the age of 88. He was a member of the MAA for 70 years! Rutledge was a research mathematician at IBM for 45 years, until his retirement in 2003. At IBM, he was co-creator of the TRAC Point II mini-joystick for laptop computers. Before IBM, he worked for Remington Rand, where he was one of the engineers responsible for the development of UNIVAC. More details of his life and career can be found at the Online Archive of California and a handout from his memorial service.

Todorka (“Dora”) Nedeva passed away unexpectedly on September 19, 2016, at the age of 44. She was an Associate Professor at Saginaw Valley State University and a member of the MAA. Nedeva was an algebraist, earning her PhD from the University of Kentucky in 2005. More information about her life and career can be found in this remembrance from SVSU and her obituary.

Frederic Gooding Jr., a member of the MAA, passed away on September 8, 2016, at the age of 82. He was an itinerant faculty member, teaching at East Coast schools such as Gallaudet University and Trinity College. More information about his life and career can be found in his obituary.

Joseph Keller passed away on September 7, 2016, at the age of 93. Keller was Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University and was considered by many to be the “Dean of Applied Mathematics”. Keller made impressive contributions in many areas of applied mathematics: numerical analysis, bifurcation theory, computational fluid dynamics, homotopy methods, and parallel computation. He was best known for his work in mathematical physics and for his Geometrical Theory of Diffraction. Keller received several awards for his work, including the Wolf Prize in Mathematics in 1997. He was also very active in the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), as indicated in this tribute. An interview with Keller was published in 2004 in the AMS Notices. Among the numerous remembrances of his life and career are article from Stanford University and SIAM and this obituary in The New York Times.

Jean-Christophe passed away on September 3, 2016, at the age of 59. Yoccoz was a professor at the Collège de France and was awarded the prestigious Fields medal in 1994 for his groundbreaking work in dynamical systems. He introduced a combinatorial technique which applies to Julia sets, a method which are now called “Yoccoz puzzles”. More information about his life and career can be found in this tribute from his college.

Marcellus Waddill passed away on August 24, 2016, at the age of 88. He was Professor Emeritus at Wake Forest University, a researcher in the area of Fibonacci and recursive sequences, and a member of the MAA for 52 years. Waddill was an active member of the Southeastern Section of the MAA, receiving the 1996 Section Distinguished Service Award and the 1999 Meritorious Service Award. More information about Waddill’s life and career can be found in this article, this interview transcript, pages from the history of Wake Forest University, and his obituary.

Nicholas Scheall passed away unexpectedly on August 18, 2016, at the age of 39. He was a Lecturer of Mathematics at Saginaw Valley State University and was known for his volunteer work for mathematics competitions. Scheall was a member of the MAA for 13 years. For more information about his life, see his obituary and this remembrance from SVSU.

John W. Goppelt passed away on August 7, 2016, at the age of 92. Goppelt was a member of the MAA for 25 years. Goppelt was trained as an engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then earned his M.D. in psychiatry. He practiced psychiatry for more than 50 years, and taught the subject at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. Nevertheless, his interest and support in mathematics never waned. More details of his life and career can be found in his obituary.

Jonathan Borwein passed away on August 2, 2016, at the age of 65. He was a member of the MAA for 40 years and a member of the editorial board of the American Mathematical Monthly. At the time of his death, he was a Laureate Professor at the University of Newcastle, Australia, after spending much of his career at Simon Fraser University and Dalhousie University in Canada. Borwein is known for his seminal work in the area of experimental mathematics, for which he won numerous prizes, including the MAA Chauvenet Prize for an article he co-wrote in 1989. At Simon Fraser, he was the founding Director of the Centre for Experimental and Constructive Mathematics. Details about his life and work can be found in this press release from the Canadian Mathematical Society, a post on this blog that he maintained with David Bailey, this remembrance, and his Wikipedia page.

Seymour Papert passed away on July 31, 2016, at the age of 88. He was a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an influential force in computer education. He was one of the developer of the Logo “turtle” programming language, and a close colleague of Marvin Minsky, who co-founder of M.I.T.’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (and also passed away in 2016). Papert and Minsky co-authored Perceptrons (1969), a seminal book on developing artificial intelligence through neural networks. Detailed information on Papert’s life and career can be found in The Guardian and The New York Times.

Solomon Feferman passed away on July 26, 2016, at the age of 87. He was a Professor of Mathematics and Philosophy (Emeritus) at Stanford University and a member of the MAA for 37 years. Feferman was well-known for his influential contributions to mathematical logic, and he was awarded the Rolf Schock Prize in Logic and Philosophy in 2003. He was also a leader in the community of logicians, serving as President of the Association for Symbolic Logic for two years. More information about his life and career can be found in this tribute from Stanford’s Department of Philosophy, and this page.

Jacek Fabrykowski passed away on July 12, 2016, at the age of 66. He was a faculty member at Youngstown State University. Fabrykowski was a significant leader in the area of competitive mathematical problem solving, serving as the chair the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad Committee (USAMO) since 2009, which directly contributed to the victories by the United States teams in the 2015 and 2016 International Mathematics Olympiad. He also served for several years on the Subcommittee on the American Invitational Mathematics Exam. These are all programs associated with the MAA, and Fabrykowski was an MAA member for several years. More information about his life and career can be found in his obituary.

John Kenelly Jr. passed away on July 3, 2016, at the age of 80. He was Professor Emeritus at Clemson University and a member of the MAA for 57 years. Kenelly was a distinguished leader in the mathematics community. He was involved in NSF-funded projects in mathematics education as a principal investigator, focusing on teaching with technology, and as an NSF program officer. He served as the president of International Math Olympiad in 2001. Kenelly was also a very active member of the MAA. In 2012, he completed a decade of appreciated, quality service as Treasurer of the Association. During his career, he also served on the MAA Board of Governors, the Budget Committee, and the Committee on Calculus Reform, as well as other committees. In recognition of his contributions, a room at MAA Headquarters is named for Kenelly. More information about his life and career can be found in this article from Clemson University, this news update from the MAA, and his obituary.

Reza Sarhangi passed away on July 1, 2016, at the age of 63. He was a faculty member at Towson University, and earlier in his career, he was a member of the faculty at Southwestern College. Sarhangi was a leading figure in the intersection of mathematics, art, and music, and was best known as the founder and president of the Bridges Organization – the organizers of the annual Bridges conference. He was a member of the MAA for 26 years and served on the AMS-MAA Task Force on Art Prizes, the MAA Centennial events subcommittee, and the Porter Public lecture committee. Among the online remembrances of his life and career are a statement from the Bridges Organization, this note from Carol Bier, and this page by JoAnne Growney.

Robert Kalin passed away on June 15, 2016, at the age of 94. He was Professor Emeritus at the Florida State University and a member of the MAA for 64 years. Kalin, a specialist in mathematics education, was a former president of Mu Alpha Theta – the National High School and Two-Year College Mathematics Honor Society. The Kalin Award from that organization was established in 1981. After his retirement from FSU, he was a leader in the Jewish community in Brownsville, TN.

Tom Apostol passed away on May 8, 2016, at the age of 92. Apostol was a professor at the California Institute of Technology until his retirement in 1992 and a member of the MAA for 66 years. A prolific writer of highly-regarded textbooks and expository articles, he received the MAA's Trevor Evans Award in 1998 and the Lester R. Ford Award in 2005, 2008, and 2010. Apostol was a frequent contributor to the American Mathematical Monthly and Mathematics Magazine, and a current member of the Math Horizons editorial board. In addition, he was the co-author of New Horizons in Geometry, published by the MAA, which received the CHOICE “Outstanding Academic Title” award in 2013. Tom Apostol and his wife Jane were inducted into the MAA’s Icosahedron Society in 2010. He was also an Inaugural Fellow of the AMS and the creator of the award winning Project MATHEMATICS! video series. More information about his life and career can be found on this page at Caltech and his Wikipedia page.

Solomon Golomb passed away on May 1, 2016, at the age of 83. He was a professor at the University of Southern California, and an MAA member for 59 years. Golomb made seminal contributions in communication theory with applications to space communications, and in the area of mathematical games. He won numerous awards, including the IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal and the Benjamin Franklin Medal. Golomb was a regular contributor to MAA publications, such as this “Proof Without Words” from linear algebra. Among the numerous remembrances of his life and career are an article from USC, a second from Johns Hopkins (his alma mater), a celebration of his 80th birthday in 2012, and this note in The New York Times.

Fred Krakowski passed away in May 2016.  He was a professor emeritus at Sacramento State University (retired, 1992) and a member of the MAA for 58 years.

William B. Barksdale passed away on April 23, 2016, at the age of 78. He worked for McDonnell-Douglas Corporation and was a member of the MAA for 25 years.

Adelaide Sprague passed away on April 20, 2016, at the age of 94.  After starting her career as a chemist at the Southern Cotton Oil Laboratory, Sprague taught in the Catholic and Public Schools in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes in Louisiana for 29 years.  She was a life member of the MAA, joining in the 1980’s.  More information about her life and career can be found in her obituary.

Marjorie Van Eenam Butcher passed away on April 6, 2016, at the age of 90.   She was a member of the MAA for 60 years.  Butcher was a professor emeritus at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, being the first woman hired and promoted by the college.  She was known for “her dual passions for applied mathematics and chapel music”, as described in this tribute from Trinity, as well as this page.  Additional information about her life and career can be found in her obituary.

Ross Honsberger passed away on April 3, 2016, at the age of 86. He was Professor Emeritus at the University of Waterloo (Canada), and a member of the MAA for 42 years. Honsberger wrote several books for the MAA, including Ingenuity in Mathematics, and he was a member of the Anneli Lax Editorial board. More information about his life and career can be found in this remembrance from the University of Waterloo, and his obituary.

Marjorie Enneking passed away on March 13, 2016, at the age of 74. She was professor emerita at Portland State University after working there for 35 years, and a member of the MAA for 43 years. Enneking was known as a champion of mathematics education and she served on the MAA Board of Governors and an MAA task force on secondary education. Enneking received the Pacific Northwest Certificate of Meritorious Service in 2006. Her obituary can be found here.

Robert Silverman passed away on March 5, 2016, at the age of 87. He was a Professor Emeritus at Wright State University and a member of the MAA for 56 years. He also taught at Syracuse University. Silverman’s research interests revolved around codes and combinatorics. More information about his life and career can be found in his obituary.

Donald Josephson passed away on February 25, 2016, at the age of 75. He was a professor at Wheaton College until he retired in 2009, and a member of the MAA for 41 years. For more information about Josephson’s life and career, see this article in the Chicago Tribune, and his obituary.

Kathryn “Kay” Strangman died on February 16, 2016, at the age of 77. She retired as a Senior Lecturer Emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2002, and also taught at Elmhurst College (Illinois) and Edgewood College (Wisconsin). More information about Strangman’s life and career can be found in this article posted by the University of Wisconsin at the time of her retirement, and her obituary.

Gilbert Palmer passed on February 12, 2016, at the age of 91. He was an Associate Professor Emeritus at SUNY-Geneseo and a member of the MAA for 53 years. Palmer was a founder and first director of a peer-tutoring program for Geneseo students. More information about Palmer’s life and career can be found in his obituary.

William Wagner passed away on February 5, 2016, at the age of 79. He was a member of the MAA for 51 years. During his career, Wagner worked at North American Aviation, Standard Oil of Ohio, the State of Ohio, and The Ohio State University. At Ohio State, he was an Assistant to the Director and Supervisor of Mathematical and Systems Analysis at the Instruction and Research Computer Center. He also taught courses in numerical analysis, computer design, and mathematical statistics for the Department of Statistics. More information about his life and career can be found in his obituary.

Carl Sinke passed away on January 20, 2016, at the age of 87. He was a professor at Calvin College (Michigan) until his retirement in 1991, and a member of the MAA for 58 years. Sinke served as department chair at Calvin in the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s. More information about Sinke’s life and career can be found on this memorial page at Calvin College and his obituary.

Rogers Newman passed away on January 9, 2016, at the age of 89. He was a professor at Southern University until his retirement, and he was a member of the MAA since 1960. Newman was very active in the National Association of Mathematicians (NAM), serving as its President for ten years, and receiving the NAM Distinguished Service Award in 1994. Among his service to the MAA was his work on the MAA Task Force on Minorities. The MAA published an article in 1996 reviewing his career, and his obituary can be found here.

Norman Sexauer passed away on January 7, 2016, at the age of 90. He was a professor at California State University, Long Beach until his retirement in 1993, and he was a member of the MAA since 1964. Sexauer was known as a dedicated teacher, especially of abstract algebra courses. He was a generous supporter of the MAA. More information about his life can be found in this memoriam from CSULB.

Jean Pedersen passed away on January 1, 2016, at the age of 81. She was a professor at Santa Clara University until her retirement, and she was a member of the MAA for 49 years. Pedersen was known for her research, writing and speaking on polyhedral geometry, combinatorics, and number theory, and with Peter Hilton, Pedersen co-authored A Mathematical Tapestry: Demonstrating the Beautiful Unity of Mathematics. For the MAA, she served on the Spectrum editorial board, and she was awarded the Golden Section’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 1997. Much more information about her life and career can be found on this page of remembrances from Santa Clara University. There is also a wonderful photograph of Pedersen posted on the SCU web site.