Leo Zippin (1905 – May 11, 1995) was an American mathematician. He is best known for solving

Hilbert's Fifth Problem Hilbert's fifth problem is the fifth mathematical problem from the problem list publicized in 1900 by mathematician David Hilbert, and concerns the characterization of Lie groups. The theory of Lie groups describes continuous symmetry in mathem ...

with

Deane Montgomery Deane Montgomery (September 2, 1909 – March 15, 1992) was an American mathematician specializing in topology who was one of the contributors to the final resolution of Hilbert's fifth problem in the 1950s. He served as President of the America ...

and Andrew M. Gleason in 1952.

Biography

Leo Zippin was born in 1905 to Bella Salwen and Max Zippin, who had emigrated to New York City from the

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

in 1903. He did his

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

and graduate work at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1929. His doctoral adviser was John Robert Kline. Leo Zippin is the author of ''The Uses Of Infinity'', and together with Deane Montgomery, the monograph ''Topological Transformation Groups''. In 1952, he, along with Andrew M. Gleason and

solved

Hilbert's fifth problem Hilbert's fifth problem is the fifth mathematical problem from the problem list publicized in 1900 by mathematician David Hilbert, and concerns the characterization of Lie groups. The theory of Lie groups describes continuous symmetry in mathem ...

Personal life

He married Frances Levinson in 1932. They had two children, Nina, a prominent literary critic and literary historian, and Vivian.known as Vivian B. Narehood, an attorney at Gibbel Kraybill & Hess
He taught at Queens College in

Flushing, NY Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zippin, Leo 1905 births 1995 deaths University of Pennsylvania alumni 20th-century American mathematicians Topologists Geometers Queens College, City University of New York faculty Scientists from New York City Mathematicians from New York (state)