Edward Packel

Edward Wesler Packel (born July 23, 1941) is an American mathematician, game theorist, theoretical computer scientist, and expert on the use of Wolfram Mathematica in teaching mathematics. His 1981 book ''The Mathematics of Games and Gambling'' won the 1986 Beckenbach Book Prize.

Early life and education

Edward W. Packel was born on July 23, 1941 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were Israel Packel (1907–1987, a lawyer, jurist and attorney general of Pennsylvania) and Reba Wesler Packel (1909–1995), who had three sons and no daughters. In 1959 Edward Packel matriculated at Amherst College and graduated there in 1963 with a B.A. in mathematics. At Amherst, he played soccer.
In autumn 1963 he became a graduate student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), where he graduated in 1967 with a Ph.D. in mathematics. His Ph.D. thesis ''Some Results on (C₀) Semigroups and the Cauchy Problem'' was supervised by Gilbert Strang .

Career

From 1967 to 1971 Packel was an assistant professor of mathematics at Reed College. As a mathematician on the staff of the Chicago metropolitan area's Lake Forest College, he was an assistant professor from 1971 to 1975, an associate professor from 1975 to 1982, and a full professor from 1982 until his retirement as professor emeritus in 2013. At Lake Forest College, he was director of the computer center from 1972 to 1973 and chair of the department of mathematics and computer science department from 1986 to 1996. At Columbia University he held a part-time appointment as a senior lecturer in computer science from 1983 to 1985. He is the author or co-author of several books and more than 35 refereed articles.

Packel was a visiting associate at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) for the academic year 1977–1978 and again in spring 1980. He held appointments a visiting professor for the academic year 1989–1990 at Berkeley's Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI), for the academic year 1996–1997 at Australia's University of Sydney, and in autumn 2003 at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. As a consultant, he has taught courses in Mathematica for Wolfram Research, conducted workshops for the Rocky Mountain Mathematics Consortium on consulting for business, and worked on various consultations related to topics related to gambling. His consulting activities related to gambling include probability calculations and computer simulations for new games involving chance, aspects of slot machine developments, and project management for machines that play poker against people.

Personal life and avocations

In May 1968, Edward Packel married Doreen Humphreys. They divorced in 1979 after becoming the parents of three daughters, Amanda, Laura, and Lisa. Laura Packel became an epidemiologist and expert in family planning and reproductive health. In July 1980 Edward Packel married Kathryn Helen Dohrmann, whose father was a Lutheran pastor. There is a son Adrian from Edward Packel's second marriage. At Lake Forest College, Kathryn Dohrmann is an assistant professor of psychology, emerita.

Edward Packel helped to establish the Lake Forest/ Lake Bluff Running Club, where he and his wife Kathryn participated together in running. In 2001, Edward set a new record time in the mile run for Illinois runners in his age group. He also enjoys golf — in August 2005 he won $180 at the Lake County Senior Invitational at Lake Bluff Golf Club.

Selected publications

Articles

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Books

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* Writing team: John B. Fink, Bonnie Gold, Robert A. Messer, and Edward W. Packel; xiii+165 pages; illustrated
Book cover & title page at maa.org
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Packel, Edward W.
1941 births
Living people
American computer scientists
American education writers
American gambling writers
20th-century American mathematicians
21st-century American mathematicians
Game theorists
Reed College alumni
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
Reed College faculty
Lake Forest College faculty