Nelson James Dunford (December 12, 1906 – September 7, 1986) was an American

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

, known for his work in

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 (for example, Inner product space#Definition, inner product, Norm (mathematics ...

, namely integration of vector valued functions,

ergodic theory Ergodic theory is a branch of mathematics that studies statistical properties of deterministic dynamical systems; it is the study of ergodicity. In this context, "statistical properties" refers to properties which are expressed through the behav ...

, and

linear operator In mathematics, and more specifically in linear algebra, a linear map (also called a linear mapping, linear transformation, vector space homomorphism, or in some contexts linear function) is a mapping V \to W between two vector spaces that pr ...

s. The Dunford decomposition,

Dunford–Pettis property In functional analysis, the Dunford–Pettis property, named after Nelson Dunford and B. J. Pettis, is a property of a Banach space stating that all weakly compact operators from this space into another Banach space are completely continuous. Many ...

, and Dunford-Schwartz theorem bear his name. He studied mathematics at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

and obtained his Ph.D. in 1936 at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

under

Jacob Tamarkin Jacob David Tamarkin (, ; 11 July 1888 – 18 November 1945) was a Russian-American mathematician, best known for his work in mathematical analysis. Biography Tamarkin was born in Chernigov, Russian Empire (now Chernihiv, Ukraine), to a weal ...

. He moved in 1939 to

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, where he remained until his retirement in 1960. In 1981, he was awarded jointly with

Jacob T. Schwartz __NOTOC__ Jacob Theodore "Jack" Schwartz (January 9, 1930 – March 2, 2009) was an American mathematician, computer scientist, and professor of computer science at the New York University Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. He was the ...

, his Ph.D. student, the well-known

Leroy P. Steele Prize The Leroy P. Steele Prizes are awarded every year by the American Mathematical Society, for distinguished research work and writing in the field of mathematics. Since 1993, there has been a formal division into three categories. The prizes have b ...

of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

for the three-volume work ''

Linear Operators In mathematics, and more specifically in linear algebra, a linear map (also called a linear mapping, linear transformation, vector space homomorphism, or in some contexts linear function) is a mapping V \to W between two vector spaces that pr ...

''. Nelson Dunford was coeditor of

Transactions of the American Mathematical Society The ''Transactions of the American Mathematical Society'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of pure and applied mathematics published by the American Mathematical Society. It was established in 1900. As a requirement, all articles must ...

(1941–1945) and

Mathematical Surveys and Monographs ''Mathematical Surveys and Monographs'' is a series of monographs published by the American Mathematical Society. Each volume in the series gives a survey of the subject along with a brief introduction to recent developments and unsolved problem ...

(1945–1949).

Publications

* * Nelson Dunford, Jacob T. Schwartz, Linear Operators, Part I General Theory , Part II Spectral Theory, Self Adjoint Operators in Hilbert Space , Part III Spectral Operators

References

* Obituary in Notices Amer. Math. Soc., Vol. 34, 1987, p. 287

External links

* 1906 births 1986 deaths People from St. Louis Mathematicians from Missouri 20th-century American mathematicians Brown University alumni Yale University faculty Operator theorists University of Chicago alumni {{US-mathematician-stub