John L. Kelley (December 6, 1916,
Kansas
Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...
– November 26, 1999,
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...
) was an American mathematician at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
, who worked in
general
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...
topology
In mathematics, topology (from the Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing ...
and
functional analysis
Functional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis, the core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces endowed with some kind of limit-related structure (e.g. inner product, norm, topology, etc.) and the linear functions defi ...
.
Kelley's 1955 text, ''General Topology'', which eventually appeared in three editions and several translations, is a classic and widely cited graduate-level introduction to
topology
In mathematics, topology (from the Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing ...
. An appendix sets out a new approach to
axiomatic set theory
Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory, as a branch of mathematics, is mostly concern ...
, now called
Morse–Kelley set theory
In the foundations of mathematics, Morse–Kelley set theory (MK), Kelley–Morse set theory (KM), Morse–Tarski set theory (MT), Quine–Morse set theory (QM) or the system of Quine and Morse is a first-order axiomatic set theory that is closely ...
, that builds on
Von Neumann–Bernays–Gödel set theory
In the foundations of mathematics, von Neumann–Bernays–Gödel set theory (NBG) is an axiomatic set theory that is a conservative extension of Zermelo–Fraenkel–choice set theory (ZFC). NBG introduces the notion of class, which is a colle ...
. He introduced the first definition of a
subnet
A subnetwork or subnet is a logical subdivision of an IP network. Updated by RFC 6918. The practice of dividing a network into two or more networks is called subnetting.
Computers that belong to the same subnet are addressed with an identical ...
.
After earning B.A. (1936) and M.A. (1937) degrees from the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...
, he went to the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1940.
Gordon Whyburn, a student of
Robert Lee Moore, supervised his thesis, entitled ''A Study of Hyperspaces''. He taught at the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...
until the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. From 1942 to 1945, he did mathematics (mainly exterior ballistics, including ballistics for the
atomic bomb
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
) for the war effort at the
Aberdeen Proving Ground
Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) (sometimes erroneously called Aberdeen Proving ''Grounds'') is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work a ...
, where his work unit included his future Berkeley colleagues
Anthony Morse and
Charles Morrey
Charles Bradfield Morrey Jr. (July 23, 1907 – April 29, 1984) was an American mathematician who made fundamental contributions to the calculus of variations and the theory of partial differential equations.
Life
Charles Bradfield Morrey Jr. ...
. After teaching at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, 1946–47, Kelley spent the rest of his career at Berkeley, from which he retired in 1985. He chaired the Mathematics Department at Berkeley 1957–60 and 1975–80. He held visiting appointments at
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
and the
Indian Institute of Technology
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are central government owned public technical institutes located across India. They are under the ownership of the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. They are governed by the Insti ...
in
Kanpur, India. An Indian mathematician,
Vashishtha Narayan Singh, was among those mentored by Kelley. In 1950, Kelley was one of 29 tenured Berkeley faculty (3 of whom were members of the Mathematics Department) dismissed for refusing to sign a
McCarthy-era loyalty oath
A loyalty oath is a pledge of allegiance to an organization, institution, or state of which an individual is a member. In the United States, such an oath has often indicated that the affiant has not been a member of a particular organization or ...
mandated by the
UC Board of Regents. He then taught at
Tulane University
Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...
and the
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...
. He returned to Berkeley in 1953, after the
California Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...
declared the oath unconstitutional and directed UC Berkeley to rehire the dismissed academics. He was later an outspoken opponent of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
Kelley's interest in teaching extended well beyond the higher reaches of mathematics. In 1960, he took a leave of absence to serve as the National Teacher on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''
Continental Classroom
''Continental Classroom'' is a U.S. educational television program that was broadcast on the NBC network five days a week in the early morning from 1958 to 1963, covering physics, chemistry, mathematics, and American government. It was targeted at ...
'' television program. He was an active member of the
School Mathematics Study Group (SMSG), which played an important role in designing and promulgating the "
new math" of that era. In 1964, he led his department to introduce a new major called Mathematics for Teachers, and later taught one of its core courses. These endeavors culminated in the text Kelley and Richert (1970). In 1977–78, he was a member of the U.S. Commission on Mathematical Instruction.
His doctoral students include
Vashishtha Narayan Singh,
James Michael Gardner Fell,
Isaac Namioka, and
Reese Prosser.
Books by Kelley
* 1953 (with Edward J. McShane and Franklin V. Reno). ''Exterior ballistics''. The University of Denver Press.
* 1955
''General Topology'' David Van Nostrand Company, link from
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
. Reprinted (1975) by
Springer Verlag
Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing.
Originally founded in 1842 i ...
.
* 1960 (with Roy Dubisch and Scott Taylor). ''Introduction to Modern Algebra''. Van Nostrand.
* 1963 (with
Isaac Namioka et al.). ''Linear Topological Spaces''. Van Nostrand.
* 1970 (with Donald Richert). ''Elementary Mathematics for Teachers''.
* 1988 (with T. P. Srinivasan). ''Measure and Integral, Volume 1'', Springer-Verlag.
References
External links
Autobiographical article (''Once over lightly'') and other memorialsfrom
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
.
John L. Kelleyfrom Department of Mathematics, UC Berkeley.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelley, John
1916 births
1999 deaths
20th-century American mathematicians
Ballistics experts
Topologists
University of Notre Dame faculty
University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty
University of California, Los Angeles alumni
University of Virginia alumni
Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars
Mathematicians from Kansas
Tulane University Law School faculty
University of Kansas faculty