George J. Fix (10 May 1939 – 10 March 2002) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

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 ...

who collaborated on several seminal papers and books in the field of

finite element method Finite element method (FEM) is a popular method for numerically solving differential equations arising in engineering and mathematical modeling. Typical problem areas of interest include the traditional fields of structural analysis, heat tran ...

. In addition to his work in mathematics, Fix was a

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

and

homebrewing Homebrewing is the brewing of beer or other alcoholic beverages on a small scale for personal, non-commercial purposes. Supplies, such as kits and fermentation tanks, can be purchased locally at specialty stores or online. Beer was brewed dom ...

enthusiast and educator, as well as the author of several books about brewing. He died of cancer in 2002.

Education

Fix was born and grew up in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, and attended

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

on a baseball scholarship, where he earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

. He received his

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

, and in 1968, he earned a Ph.D. from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

Professor of mathematics

After earning his Ph.D, Fix stayed at Harvard as an assistant professor until 1972. While there, he met

Gilbert Strang William Gilbert Strang (born November 27, 1934) is an American mathematician known for his contributions to Finite elements, finite element theory, the calculus of variations, wavelet analysis and linear algebra. He has made many contributions ...

, and collaborated with him on a paper regarding the

Fourier analysis In mathematics, Fourier analysis () is the study of the way general functions may be represented or approximated by sums of simpler trigonometric functions. Fourier analysis grew from the study of Fourier series, and is named after Joseph Fo ...

of finite element methods (FEM). In 1973, he and Strang published ''An Analysis of the Finite Element Method'', a book that gave the latest advances in FEM "publicity and respectability". (Max Gunzburger of

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

called it "one of the most important and influential applied mathematics books ever published.") Fix moved to

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

in 1972, and then to

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. He served as the chair of mathematics at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

for over 20 years, and served in the same role at

University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A& ...

and

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

. He also taught at

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

. During his academic tenure, he published two books and over 100 papers. In addition to his seminal work on FEM, his papers included works on

iterative methods In computational mathematics, an iterative method is a Algorithm, mathematical procedure that uses an initial value to generate a sequence of improving approximate solutions for a class of problems, in which the ''i''-th approximation (called an " ...

, grid generation, and

integral equations In mathematical analysis, integral equations are equations in which an unknown Function (mathematics), function appears under an integral sign. In mathematical notation, integral equations may thus be expressed as being of the form: f(x_1,x_2,x_3 ...

in the context of FEM. He also made contributions concerning numerical applications of real-world applications, including

solid mechanics Solid mechanics (also known as mechanics of solids) is the branch of continuum mechanics that studies the behavior of solid materials, especially their motion and deformation (mechanics), deformation under the action of forces, temperature chang ...

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

, and jets and sprays, as well as computational geometry as it applied to the modeling of developable surfaces.

Contributions to brewing

Fix also applied his talents to amateur beer brewing. He won hundreds of awards across the United States for his beers, and was named Homebrewer of the Year in 1981 by the

American Homebrewers Association The Brewers Association is an American trade group of over 5,400 brewers, breweries in planning, suppliers, distributors, craft beer retailers, and individuals particularly concerned with the promotion of craft beer and homebrewing. Two of the l ...

(AHA). He was a consultant to numerous microbreweries and brewpubs, and served as an expert witness in brewing-related litigation. He served on the Board of Advisors of the AHA, the editorial board of ''Brewing Techniques'' magazine, the steering committee of the Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing, and was a member of

Beer Judge Certification Program The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) is a non-profit organization formed in 1985 to recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills. The BJCP certifies and ranks beer judges through an examination and monitoring process. Purpose The BJCP ha ...

, the American Association of Brewing Chemists, and the Master Brewers Association of America. In 1999, he wrote ''Principles of Brewing Science'', considered a standard reference for home- and craft-brewers. He also co-authored two books about homebrewing with his wife Laurie, including ''An Analysis of Brewing Techniques'' in 1998. For his achievements and role as an educator in the field of home brewing, Fix was honoured with the AHA Recognition Award in 1991, the Distinguished Service Recognition Award by the Association of Brewers in 1991, and the Ninkasi Award by the AHA in 1997.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fix, George J. 1939 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians Homebrewing Academics from Dallas Rice University alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Beer writers University of Michigan faculty Texas A&M Aggies baseball players University of Maryland, College Park faculty Carnegie Mellon University faculty University of Texas at Arlington faculty Clemson University faculty