George William Whitehead, Jr. (August 2, 1918 – April 12, 2004) was an American professor of mathematics 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 ...

, a member of the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, 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 Nati ...

, and a Fellow of 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 is known for his work on

algebraic topology Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics that uses tools from abstract algebra to study topological spaces. The basic goal is to find algebraic invariant (mathematics), invariants that classification theorem, classify topological spaces up t ...

. He invented the

J-homomorphism In mathematics, the ''J''-homomorphism is a mapping from the homotopy groups of the special orthogonal groups to the homotopy groups of spheres. It was defined by , extending a construction of . Definition Whitehead's original homomorphism is de ...

, and was among the first to systematically calculate the

homotopy groups of spheres In the mathematical field of algebraic topology, the homotopy groups of spheres describe how spheres of various dimensions can wrap around each other. They are examples of topological invariants, which reflect, in algebraic terms, the structure ...

. He is also central to the study of

Stable homotopy theory In mathematics, stable homotopy theory is the part of homotopy theory (and thus algebraic topology) concerned with all structure and phenomena that remain after sufficiently many applications of the suspension functor. A founding result was the ...

, in particular making concrete the connections between Spectra and Generalized homology/cohomology theories. Whitehead was born in

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city had a population of 78,680, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, 13th-most populous ci ...

, and received his Ph.D. in mathematics from 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 ...

in 1941, under the supervision of

Norman Steenrod Norman Earl Steenrod (April 22, 1910October 14, 1971) was an American mathematician most widely known for his contributions to the field of algebraic topology. Life He was born in Dayton, Ohio, and educated at Miami University and University of ...

. After teaching at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

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 ...

, and

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 ' ...

, he took a position at MIT in 1949, where he remained until his retirement in 1985. He advised 13 Ph.D. students, including

Robert Aumann Robert John Aumann (Yisrael Aumann, ; born June 8, 1930) is an Israeli-American mathematician, and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. He is a professor at the Center for the Study of Rationality in the Hebrew University ...

and

John Coleman Moore John Coleman Moore (May 27, 1923 – January 1, 2016) was an American mathematician. The Borel−Moore homology and Eilenberg–Moore spectral sequence are named after him. Early life and education Moore was born in 1923 in Staten Island, Ne ...

, and has over 1,320 academic descendants.

Selected publications

References

George Whitehead dies at 85
MIT News Office

External links

Haynes R. Miller, "George W. Whitehead Jr.", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2015)
20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians American topologists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty Purdue University faculty Princeton University faculty Brown University faculty University of Chicago alumni People from Bloomington, Illinois 1918 births 2004 deaths Mathematicians from Illinois {{US-mathematician-stub