Erwin Otto Kreyszig (January 6, 1922 in Pirna, Germany – December 12, 2008) was a

German Canadian German Canadians (german: Deutsch-Kanadier or , ) are Canadian citizens of German ancestry or Germans who emigrated to and reside in Canada. According to the 2016 census, there are 3,322,405 Canadians with full or partial German ancestry. Some ...

applied 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 ...

and the Professor of Mathematics at

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning Wo ...

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, Canada. He was a pioneer in the field of

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathemati ...

: non-wave replicating

linear system In systems theory, a linear system is a mathematical model of a system based on the use of a linear operator. Linear systems typically exhibit features and properties that are much simpler than the nonlinear case. As a mathematical abstraction ...

s. He was also a distinguished author, having written the

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbook ...

''Advanced Engineering Mathematics'', the leading textbook for civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering undergraduate

engineering mathematics Engineering mathematics is a branch of applied mathematics concerning mathematical methods and techniques that are typically used in engineering and industry. Along with fields like engineering physics and engineering geology, both of which may be ...

. Kreyszig received his PhD degree in 1949 at the University of Darmstadt under the supervision of Alwin Walther. He then continued his research activities at the universities of

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three ...

and

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

. Prior to joining Carleton University in 1984, he held positions at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

(1954/55), the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

(1955/56),

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pub ...

(1956–60, professor 1957) and he completed his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...

at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stud ...

. In 1960 he became professor at the Technical University of Graz and organized the Graz 1964 Mathematical Congress. He worked at the

University of Düsseldorf A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

(1967–71) and at the

University of Karlsruhe The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; german: Karlsruher Institut für Technologie) is a public university, public research university in Karlsruhe, Germany. The institute is a national research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT wa ...

(1971–73). From 1973 through 1984 he worked at the

University of Windsor , mottoeng = Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge , established = , academic_affiliations = CARL, COU, Universities Canada , former_names = Assumption College (1857-1956)Assumption University of Windsor (1956-1963) , type = Public universi ...

and since 1984 he had been at Carleton University. He was awarded the title of Distinguished Research Professor in 1991 in recognition of a research career during which he published 176 papers in refereed journals, and 37 in refereed conference proceedings. Kreyszig was also an administrator, developing a Computer Centre at the

University of Graz The University of Graz (german: link=no, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, ), located in Graz, Austria, is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria. History The univers ...

, and at the Mathematics Institute at the

. In 1964, he took a leave of absence from Graz to initiate a doctoral program in mathematics at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

. Kreyszig authored 14 books, including ''Advanced Engineering Mathematics'', which was published in its 10th edition in 2011. He supervised 104 master's and 22 doctoral students as well as 12 postdoctoral researchers. Together with his son he founded the ''Erwin and Herbert Kreyszig Scholarship'' which has funded graduate students since 2001.

Books

*''Statistische Methoden und ihre Anwendungen'', Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 1965. *''Introduction to Differential Geometry and Riemannian Geometry (English Translation)'', University of Toronto Press, 1968. *(with Kracht, Manfred): ''Methods of Complex Analysis in Partial Differential Equations with Applications'', Wiley, 1988, . *''Introductory Functional Analysis with Applications'', Wiley, 1989, . *''Differentialgeometrie''. Leipzig 1957; engl. ''Differential Geometry'', Dover, 1991, . *''Advanced Engineering Mathematics'', Wiley, (First edition 1962; ninth edition 2006, ; tenth edition (posthumous) 2011, ).

Literature

*Manfred W. Kracht: ''In Honor of Professor Erwin Kreyszig on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday'', Complex Variables 18, pp. 1–2, (1992)
Obituary by Martin Muldoon

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kreyszig, Erwin Canadian mathematicians 20th-century German mathematicians 21st-century German mathematicians Carleton University faculty 1922 births 2008 deaths Functional analysts Textbook writers Technische Universität Darmstadt alumni German emigrants to Canada