Aldridge Knight Bousfield (April 5, 1941 – October 4, 2020), known as "Pete", was an American mathematician working in

algebraic topology Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics that uses tools from abstract algebra to study topological spaces. The basic goal is to find algebraic invariant (mathematics), invariants that classification theorem, classify topological spaces up t ...

, known for the concept of

Bousfield localization In category theory, a branch of mathematics, a (left) Bousfield localization of a model category replaces the model structure with another model structure with the same cofibrations but with more weak equivalences. Bousfield localization is named a ...

Work and life

Bousfield obtained both his undergraduate degree (1963) and his doctorate (1966) at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. His doctoral thesis, entitled "Higher Order Suspension Maps for Non-Additive Functors", was written under the supervision of

Daniel Kan Daniel Marinus Kan (or simply Dan Kan) (August 4, 1927 – August 4, 2013) was a Dutch mathematician working in category theory and homotopy theory. He was a prolific contributor to both fields for six decades, having authored or coauthored sever ...

. He was a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

and

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

and moved to the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

where he worked from 1972 to his retirement in 2000. Bousfield married Marie Vastersavendts, a Belgian mathematician, in 1968. She worked as demographer for the city of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and died in 2016.

Research

Within algebraic topology, he specialised in

homotopy theory In mathematics, homotopy theory is a systematic study of situations in which Map (mathematics), maps can come with homotopy, homotopies between them. It originated as a topic in algebraic topology, but nowadays is learned as an independent discipli ...

. The ''Bousfield-Kan spectral sequence'',

of spectra and model categories, and the ''Bousfield-Friedlander model structure'' are named after Bousfield (and Kan and Friedlander, respectively).

Recognition

He was named to the 2018 class of fellows of the American Mathematical Society "for contributions to homotopy theory and for exposition".

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bousfield, Aldridge 20th-century American mathematicians Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni 1941 births 2020 deaths Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Writers from Boston Brandeis University faculty University of Illinois Chicago faculty