Nathan Jacobson (October 5, 1910 – December 5, 1999) 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 ...
.
Biography
Born Nachman Arbiser in Warsaw, Jacobson emigrated to America with his family in 1918. He graduated from the
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...
in 1930 and was awarded a doctorate in mathematics from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
in 1934. While working on his thesis, ''Non-commutative polynomials and cyclic algebras'', he was advised by
Joseph Wedderburn
Joseph Henry Maclagan Wedderburn FRSE FRS (2 February 1882 – 9 October 1948) was a Scottish mathematician, who taught at Princeton University for most of his career. A significant algebraist, he proved that a finite division algebra is a fi ...
.
Jacobson taught and researched at
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...
(1935–1936), 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 ...
(1936–1937), the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
(1937–1943), and
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
(1943–1947) before joining
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 ...
in 1947. He remained at Yale until his retirement.
He was a member of the
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
and the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
. He served as president 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, ...
from 1971 to 1973, and was awarded their highest honour, the
Leroy P. Steele prize for lifetime achievement, in 1998. He was also vice-president of the
International Mathematical Union
The International Mathematical Union (IMU) is an international organization devoted to international cooperation in the field of mathematics across the world. It is a member of the International Science Council (ISC) and supports the International ...
from 1972 to 1974.
Selected works
Books
*Collected Mathematical Papers, 3 vols., 1989
''The theory of Rings.''1943
*''Lectures in Abstract Algebra.'' 3 vols., Van Nostrand 1951, 1953, 1964, Reprint by Springer 1975 (Vol.1 Basic concepts, Vol.2 Linear Algebra, Vol.3 Theory of fields and Galois theory)
*''Structure of Rings.'' AMS 1956
*''Lie Algebras.'' Interscience 1962
AMS 1968
Dekker 1971
*''Basic Algebra.'' Freeman, San Francisco 1974, Vol. 1; 1980, Vol. 2;
*''PI-Algebras. An Introduction.'' Springer 1975
1996
Articles
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*with F. D. Jacobson:
*
*with
C. E. Rickart:
*
*
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*with C. E. Rickart:
*
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See also
*
Jacobson–Bourbaki theorem
*
Jacobson's conjecture
*
Jacobson density theorem In mathematics, more specifically non-commutative ring theory, modern algebra, and module theory, the Jacobson density theorem is a theorem concerning simple modules over a ring .
The theorem can be applied to show that any primitive ring can be ...
*
Jacobson radical
In mathematics, more specifically ring theory, the Jacobson radical of a ring R is the ideal consisting of those elements in R that annihilate all simple right R- modules. It happens that substituting "left" in place of "right" in the definitio ...
*
Jacobson ring
References
External links
*
*
An interview with William L. Duren, Nathan Jacobson, and Edward J. McShane about their experiences at Princeton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobson, Nathan
1910 births
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
1999 deaths
Polish emigrants to the United States
20th-century American mathematicians
American algebraists
University of Alabama alumni
Princeton University alumni
Bryn Mawr College faculty
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty
Johns Hopkins University faculty
Yale University faculty
Presidents of the American Mathematical Society