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==Biography==
==Biography==
Kaplansky (or "Kap," as his friends and colleagues called him) was born in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]], to [[Polish Jews|Polish-Jewish]] immigrants;<ref>[http://zakuski.utsa.edu/~kap/in_memoriam_by_Nancy_Albert.pdf Irving Kaplansky Memoir by Nancy E. Albert]</ref> his father worked as a tailor, and his mother ran a grocery and, eventually, a chain of bakeries.<ref name="mmp"/> He attended the [[University of Toronto]] as an undergraduate. In his senior year, he competed in the first [[William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition]], becoming one of the first five recipients of the Putnam Fellowship, which paid for graduate studies at [[Harvard University]].<ref name="mmp"/>
Kaplansky (or "Kap," as his friends and colleagues called him) was born in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]], to [[Polish Jews|Polish-Jewish]] immigrants;<ref>[http://zakuski.utsa.edu/~kap/in_memoriam_by_Nancy_Albert.pdf Irving Kaplansky Memoir by Nancy E. Albert]</ref><ref>[http://jwa.org/blog/making-family-stories-into-art Making Family Stories into Art]</ref> his father worked as a tailor, and his mother ran a grocery and, eventually, a chain of bakeries.<ref name="mmp"/> He attended the [[University of Toronto]] as an undergraduate. In his senior year, he competed in the first [[William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition]], becoming one of the first five recipients of the Putnam Fellowship, which paid for graduate studies at [[Harvard University]].<ref name="mmp"/>
After receiving his [[Ph.D.]] from [[Harvard]] in 1941<ref>{{MathGenealogy|id=833}}</ref> as [[Saunders Mac Lane]]'s first student, he remained at Harvard as a Benjamin Pierce Instructor, and in 1944 moved with Mac Lane to [[Columbia University]] for a year.<ref name="mmp"/> He was [[professor]] of [[mathematics]] at the [[University of Chicago]] from 1945 to 1984, and Chair of the department from 1962 to 1967. Kaplansky's many doctoral students included [[Hyman Bass]], [[Donald Samuel Ornstein|Donald Ornstein]], and [[Harold Widom]]. Kaplansky was the Director of the [[Mathematical Sciences Research Institute]] from 1984 to 1992, and the President of the [[American Mathematical Society]] from 1985 to 1986.
After receiving his [[Ph.D.]] from [[Harvard]] in 1941<ref>{{MathGenealogy|id=833}}</ref> as [[Saunders Mac Lane]]'s first student, he remained at Harvard as a Benjamin Pierce Instructor, and in 1944 moved with Mac Lane to [[Columbia University]] for a year.<ref name="mmp"/> He was [[professor]] of [[mathematics]] at the [[University of Chicago]] from 1945 to 1984, and Chair of the department from 1962 to 1967. Kaplansky's many doctoral students included [[Hyman Bass]], [[Donald Samuel Ornstein|Donald Ornstein]], and [[Harold Widom]]. Kaplansky was the Director of the [[Mathematical Sciences Research Institute]] from 1984 to 1992, and the President of the [[American Mathematical Society]] from 1985 to 1986.


Revision as of 16:29, 5 January 2014

Irving Kaplansky
BornMarch 22, 1917
Toronto
DiedJune 25, 2006
Los Angeles
NationalityCanada, American
Alma materHarvard University
Known forgroup theory
ring theory
operator algebras
field theory
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsUniversity of Chicago
Doctoral advisorSaunders Mac Lane
Doctoral studentsHyman Bass
H. Arlen Brown
Jacob Feldman
Donald Ornstein
Alex Rosenberg
Fred Wright, Jr.

Irving Kaplansky (March 22, 1917 – June 25, 2006) was a Canadian mathematician.

Biography

Kaplansky (or "Kap," as his friends and colleagues called him) was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Polish-Jewish immigrants;[1][2] his father worked as a tailor, and his mother ran a grocery and, eventually, a chain of bakeries.[3] He attended the University of Toronto as an undergraduate. In his senior year, he competed in the first William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, becoming one of the first five recipients of the Putnam Fellowship, which paid for graduate studies at Harvard University.[3] After receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1941[4] as Saunders Mac Lane's first student, he remained at Harvard as a Benjamin Pierce Instructor, and in 1944 moved with Mac Lane to Columbia University for a year.[3] He was professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago from 1945 to 1984, and Chair of the department from 1962 to 1967. Kaplansky's many doctoral students included Hyman Bass, Donald Ornstein, and Harold Widom. Kaplansky was the Director of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute from 1984 to 1992, and the President of the American Mathematical Society from 1985 to 1986.

Kaplansky was also an accomplished amateur musician. He studied piano until the age of 15, earned money in high school as a dance band musician, taught Tom Lehrer, and played in Harvard's jazz band in graduate school. He also had a regular program on Harvard's student radio station. After moving to the University of Chicago, he stopped playing for two decades, but then returned to music as an accompanist for student-run Gilbert and Sullivan productions and as a calliope player in football game parades.[3] He often composed music based on mathematical themes. One of those compositions, A Song About Pi, is a melody based on assigning notes to the first 14 decimal places of pi, and has occasionally been performed by his daughter, singer-songwriter Lucy Kaplansky.

Mathematical contributions

Kaplansky made major contributions to group theory, ring theory, the theory of operator algebras and field theory. He published more than 150 papers and worked with at least 20 co-authors.

Awards and honors

Kaplansky was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Selected publications

  • Kaplansky, Irving (1974). Commutative Rings. Lectures in Mathematics. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-42454-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  • Fun with Mathematics: Some Thoughts from Seven Decades, a video lecture of Kaplansky's advice on writing mathematical papers

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Irving Kaplansky Memoir by Nancy E. Albert
  2. ^ Making Family Stories into Art
  3. ^ a b c d Albers, Donald J.; Alexanderson, Gerald L.; Reid, Constance, eds. (1990), "Irving Kaplansky", More Mathematical People, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, pp. 118–136.
  4. ^ Irving Kaplansky at the Mathematics Genealogy Project

References

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