Joseph Gillis: Difference between revisions
starting "Joseph Gillis" a noted Israeli mathematician. Based on the Hebrew wikipedia page |
starting "Joseph Gillis" a noted Israeli mathematician. Based on the Hebrew wikipedia page |
||
| Line 24: | Line 24: | ||
was an [[Israeli Jews|Israeli]] mathematician who was one of the founders of the Faculty of Mathematics at the |
was an [[Israeli Jews|Israeli]] mathematician who was one of the founders of the Faculty of Mathematics at the |
||
Weizmann Institute of Science and served as a Professor of Applied Mathematics there. |
Weizmann Institute of Science and served as a Professor of Applied Mathematics there. |
||
He made notable contributions to fractal sets, fluid dynamics, and pioneered the combinatorial theory |
He made notable contributions to fractal sets, fluid dynamics, random walks, and pioneered the combinatorial theory |
||
of special functions of mathematical physics. |
of special functions of mathematical physics. |
||
Revision as of 23:29, 3 January 2015
Joseph E. Gillis | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 3, 1911 |
| Died | November 18, 1993 (aged 82) |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Alma mater | Cambridge University |
| Spouse | Olga Kirsch |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Weizmann Institute of Science |
| Doctoral advisor | Abram Samoilovitch Besicovitch |
Joseph E. Gillis (August 3, 1911 – November 18, 1993) was an Israeli mathematician who was one of the founders of the Faculty of Mathematics at the Weizmann Institute of Science and served as a Professor of Applied Mathematics there. He made notable contributions to fractal sets, fluid dynamics, random walks, and pioneered the combinatorial theory of special functions of mathematical physics.
Biography
Gillis was born on August 3, 1991 in Great Britain. He studied at Trinity College, the University of Cambridge, completing his doctoral thesis under A.S. Besicovitch in 1935. During World War II he worked in Bletchley Park as a cryptographer. He was on the Faculty of Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, between 1937 and 1947.
In 1948 he immigrated to Israel and joined the Ziv Institute (that later became the Weizmann Institute) and was one of the founders of the Department of Applied Mathematics, and also served for some years as the Academic Secretary of the Institute. During the Academic Year 1954-1955 he was a visited the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, as part of the Electronic Computer Project headed by John von Neumann. He was very active in advancing mathematics education, and chaired the department of Science Teaching at the Weizmann Institute. He started the Israel Mathematics Olympiad and coached the Israeli team for many years, as well as editing mathematics periodicals for high school students and amateurs.
He was married to Olga Kirsch and had two daughters. He died on November 1993.