Joseph Bishop Keller | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1923-07-31)July 31, 1923 Paterson, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | September 7, 2016(2016-09-07) (aged 93) Stanford, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | New York University |
| Known for | Geometrical theory of diffraction Keller–Miksis formulation Einstein–Brillouin–Keller method Keller–Osserman conditions |
| Awards | Lester R. Ford Award(1976, 1977) Gibbs Lecture(1977) Eringen Medal(1981) John von Neumann Prize(1983) Timoshenko Medal(1984) National Medal of Science(1988) ICM Speaker(1994) Nemmers Prize in Mathematics(1996) Wolf Prize(1997) Ig Nobel Prize(1999, 2012) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | New York University Stanford University |
| Thesis | Reflection and transmission of electromagnetic waves by thin curved shells[1] |
| Doctoral advisor | Richard Courant[1] |
| Doctoral students | Herbert Bishop Keller George C. Papanicolaou Bernard J. Matkowsky L. Mahadevan |
Joseph Bishop Keller (July 31, 1923 – September 7, 2016) was an Americanmathematician who specialized inapplied mathematics. He was best known for his work on the "geometrical theory of diffraction" (GTD).[2]
Born inPaterson, New Jersey on July 31, 1923, Keller attendedEastside High School, where he was a member of the math team.[3] After earning his undergraduate degree in 1943 atNew York University, Keller obtained his PhD in 1948 from NYU under the supervision ofRichard Courant. He was a professor of mathematics in theCourant Institute at New York University until 1979. Then he was Professor of Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering atStanford University until 1993, when he becameprofessor emeritus.
Keller worked on the application of mathematics to problems in science and engineering, such aswave propagation. He contributed to theEinstein–Brillouin–Keller method for computingeigenvalues inquantum mechanical systems.
Keller was awarded aLester R. Ford Award (shared with David W. McLaughlin) in 1976[4] and (not shared) in 1977.[5] In 1988 he was awarded the U.S.National Medal of Science, and in 1997 he was awarded theWolf Prize by the Israel-basedWolf Foundation. In 1996, he was awarded theNemmers Prize in Mathematics. In 1999 he was awarded theIg Nobel Prize for calculating how to make a teapot spout that does not drip. With Patrick B. Warren, Robin C. Ball andRaymond E. Goldstein, Keller was awarded anIg Nobel Prize in 2012 for calculating the forces that shape and moveponytail hair.[6][7]In 2012 he became a fellow of theAmerican Mathematical Society.[8]
Keller's second wife,Alice S. Whittemore, started her career as a pure mathematician but shifted her interests toepidemiology andbiostatistics.Keller had a brother who was also a mathematician,Herbert B. Keller, who studied numerical analysis,scientific computing,bifurcation theory, path following and homotopy methods, andcomputational fluid dynamics; Keller was the co-advisor of his Herbert's PhD thesis. Herbert Keller was a professor atCaltech. Both brothers contributed to the fields ofelectromagnetics andfluid dynamics. Joseph Keller died inStanford,California on September 7, 2016, from a recurrence of kidney cancer first diagnosed in 2003.[9]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
