Gordon Thomas Whyburn (7 January 1904 Lewisville, Texas – 8 September 1969 Charlottesville, Virginia) 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, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

who worked on

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 ...

. Whyburn studied at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in Austin, where he received a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1925. Under the influence of his teacher

Robert Lee Moore Robert Lee Moore (November 14, 1882 – October 4, 1974) was an American mathematician who taught for many years at the University of Texas. He is known for his work in general topology, for the Moore method of teaching university mathematics, ...

, Whyburn continued to study at Austin but changed to mathematics and earned a master's degree in mathematics in 1926 and then a PhD in 1927. After two years as an adjunct professor at U. of Texas, with the aid of a Guggenheim fellowship Whyburn spent the academic year 1929/1930 in

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with Hans Hahn and in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

with

Kuratowski Kazimierz Kuratowski (; 2 February 1896 – 18 June 1980) was a Polish mathematician and logician. He was one of the leading representatives of the Warsaw School of Mathematics. Biography and studies Kazimierz Kuratowski was born in Warsaw, ( ...

and Sierpinski. After the fellowship expired, Whyburn became a professor at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

. From 1934 he was a professor at 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 modernized the mathematics department and spent the rest of his career. He was chair of the department until his first heart attack in 1966;

Edward J. McShane Edward James McShane (May 10, 1904 – June 1, 1989) was an American mathematician noted for his advancements of the calculus of variations, integration (mathematics), integration theory, stochastic calculus, and exterior ballistics. ttps://www. ...

joined the department in 1935, and Gustav A. Hedlund was a member of the department from 1939 to 1948. In the academic year 1952/1953 Whyburn was a visiting professor at Stanford University. In 1953–1954 he served as president of the American Mathematical Society. Whyburn was awarded the Chauvenet Prize in 1938 for his paper "On the Structure of Continua", and was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1951. His doctoral students include John L. Kelley and

Alexander Doniphan Wallace Alexander Doniphan Wallace (21 August 1905, in Hampton, Virginia, USA – 16 October 1985, in New Orleans, USA) was an American mathematician who introduced proximity spaces. Wallace received from the University of Virginia B.A. in 1935, M.A. in ...

. His brother William Marvin Whyburn (1901–1972) was a mathematics professor at

UCLA 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 California ...

and became known for his work on ordinary differential equations.

Publications

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References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whyburn, Gordon Thomas 20th-century American mathematicians Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Presidents of the American Mathematical Society Topologists University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences alumni University of Virginia faculty 1904 births 1969 deaths Mathematicians from Texas People from Lewisville, Texas Burials at the University of Virginia Cemetery