Henry Pogorzelski

Henry Andrew Pogorzelski (September 26, 1922 - December 30, 2015)[1] was an American mathematician of Polish descent,[2] a professor of mathematics at the University of Maine. Much of Pogorzelski's research concerns the Goldbach conjecture, the still-unsolved problem of whether every even number can be represented as a sum of two prime numbers.[3][4]

Born in Harrison, New Jersey,[5] Pogorzelski served in the U.S. Army in World War II.[2] He served as editor of Mathematical Reviews from 1957 to 1964[6] and studied at the Institute for Advanced Study under André Weil.[2] He received his Ph.D. from CUNY in 1969 under the advisor Raymond Smullyan; his dissertation was on "Goldbach Sentences in Some Abstract Arithmetics Constructed from a Generalization of Ordinary Recursive Arithmetic".[7] In 1974, after he had joined the Maine faculty, he was the only American invited by the Polish Academy of Science to visit Poland for the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Copernicus.[2] In 2002, the University of Maine attempted to suspend Pogorzelski from teaching duties, but backed down after he filed an age discrimination complaint.[8]

As well as holding a faculty position at the University of Maine, Pogorzelski was the director of the Research Institute for Mathematics (formerly known as the Research Institute for Semiological Mathematics), an independent research institute located near the University of Maine in Orono, Maine and modeled after the Institute for Advanced Study.[9][10][11] He proposed in 1993 to offer doctorates through the institute; the proposal was rejected at the time,[3][4][9] but the Research Institute for Mathematics is now the only institution in Maine that grants doctoral degrees in mathematics.[10][11] Henry Pogorzelski died December 30, 2015, in Orono, Maine.[12]

References

  1. ^ Jan W. Churchwell; Louann Chaudier (1982). Who's Who in Technology Today, 1982-1983. J. Dick. p. 616.
  2. ^ a b c d Newall, Robert H. (July 12, 1974), "Mathematician Relates Visit To Native Poland", Bangor Daily News.
  3. ^ a b "Doctoral Math Program Requested", Sun Journal, April 13, 1993.
  4. ^ a b Goad, Meredith (December 18, 1994), "Math Professor Creates Own Conundrum: Henry Pogorzelski Wants To Award Ph.D.s Through His Own Research Institute And His Employer, UMaine, Is Opposed", Portland Press Herald.
  5. ^ Staff. A COMMUNITY OF SCHOLARS: The Institute for Advanced Study Faculty and Members 1930-1980 Archived 2011-11-24 at the Wayback Machine, p. 330. Institute for Advanced Study, 1980. Accessed November 22, 2015. "Pogorzelski, Henry Andrew 64-65, 66-67 M, Semiological Number Theory Born 1922 Harrison, NJ."
  6. ^ The Editors of Mathematical Reviews, American Mathematical Society, retrieved 2010-02-04.
  7. ^ Henry A. Pogorzelski at the Mathematics Genealogy Project.
  8. ^ Gundersen, Jennifer (April 22, 2002), "Senior professor claims age discrimination", The Maine Campus, archived from the original on October 7, 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Math Degree Rejected: Urchins And Eagles On Augusta Agenda", Bangor Daily News, March 24, 1994.
  10. ^ a b Maine Higher Education – Presidents of Degree-Granting Institutions, Maine Department of Education, retrieved 2010-02-04.
  11. ^ a b Research Institute for Mathematics web site, accessed 2010-02-04.
  12. ^ "In Memoriam: Henry Pogorzelski, 1922-2015". University of Maine. Retrieved 5 April 2016.