Abraham Markham Gelbart (December 2, 1911 – September 7, 1994) was an American mathematician, the founding dean of the Belfer Graduate School of Science at
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City. and the namesake of the International Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences at
Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...
in
Ramat Gan
Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...
,
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
.
[.][.]
Biography
Gelbart was born to a Polish immigrant family in
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...]
, where he came under the mentorship of Yeshiva mathematician
Jekuthiel Ginsburg. Despite not having a high school diploma, he was accepted to
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...
at age 23, and earned a bachelor's degree there in 1938. He did his graduate studies at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
, earning a doctorate in 1940 under the supervision of
Norbert Wiener
Norbert Wiener (November 26, 1894 – March 18, 1964) was an American computer scientist, mathematician, and philosopher. He became a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT). A child prodigy, Wiener late ...
.
After taking non-tenure-track positions at
North Carolina State College,
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 ' ...
, and
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
's
Langley Research Center
The Langley Research Center (LaRC or NASA Langley), located in Hampton, Virginia, near the Chesapeake Bay front of Langley Air Force Base, is the oldest of NASA's field centers. LaRC has focused primarily on aeronautical research but has also ...
, Gelbart took a faculty position at
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
in 1943. He remained there until 1958, when he moved to Yeshiva, taking the position and the editorship of ''
Scripta Mathematica
''Scripta Mathematica'' was a quarterly journal published by Yeshiva University devoted to the Philosophy, history, and expository treatment of mathematics. It was said to be, at its time, "the only mathematical magazine in the world edited by spe ...
'' both formerly held by his mentor Ginsburg. He retired from Yeshiva in 1979, and took a position as Distinguished Professor at
Bard College
Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...
, where he remained until 1992. He was also a trustee of Bar-Ilan university.
His doctoral students include
Robert Finn. Gelbart died from complications following
cardiovascular surgery.
Gelbart's son
Stephen Gelbart is also a noted mathematician
.
Mathematics
With
Lipman Bers, Gelbart founded the theory of
pseudoanalytic functions in
fluid dynamics
In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in motion ...
.
[.]
Awards and honors
Gelbart was given an honorary doctorate by Dalhousie University in 1972, and by Bar-Ilan University in 1985. In 1981, Bard College gave him the Bard Medal.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gelbart, Abraham
1911 births
1994 deaths
20th-century American mathematicians
Dalhousie University alumni
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
Scientists from Paterson, New Jersey
Syracuse University faculty
Yeshiva University faculty
Mathematicians from New York (state)