Princeton University Mathematics Professor Dies At 91

PRINCETON, NJ — A Princeton University professor of mathematics, emeritus, has died. Gerard Washnitzer died in hospice in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, on April 2, according to the university. He was 91.

The Princeton Department of Mathematics will host a memorial service in his honor on Saturday, April 22, 1 p.m., at Fine Hall, Taplin Auditorium.

According to the university’s website:

Colleagues and family recalled Washnitzer as an avid reader who loved history as much as mathematics — particularly the history of mathematics. He exercised his extensive knowledge on topics in spirited yet friendly debates, and by pushing his students intellectually.

Washnitzer received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton in 1950 and joined the Princeton faculty as a professor of mathematics in 1963. He was hired to strengthen the department's algebra contingent.

Washnitzer was fascinated with the historical development of various mathematics areas, and would often scour old, obscure mathematics papers for ideas that would spark his own thinking and a lively discussion, according to Robert Gunning, a Princeton professor of mathematics.

As an adviser, Washnitzer would happily ruminate with graduate students, exploring complex ideas that tested them as mathematicians, said his past student William Fulton, a professor of mathematics at the University of Michigan who received his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1966.

Fulton and Gunning said that Washnitzer embraced a sea change occurring in pure mathematics and algebra during the 1960s that was led by German-born French mathematician Alexander Grothendieck. In 1968, Washnitzer and Paul Monsky, now a professor emeritus of mathematics at Brandeis University, introduced the Monsky-Washnitzer cohomology, which tied into work developed by Grothendieck.

Bernard Noble, Washnitzer's son, said that his father was a true academic and intellectual — complete with an office strewn with papers and books — who pushed himself and others to learn as much as possible. Storied among Washnitzer's three sons are his math lessons, which would sprawl into areas — particularly real-world applications — that "had nothing to do with what was in the book."

An athlete as a child, Washnitzer was an avid jogger (in all weather) who was good at softball and biked to work from his Princeton home nearly every day for decades. He also loved classical music of all kinds, particularly Bruckner, Mahler, Wagner and Beethoven. When Washnitzer could not walk during his last 16 months, an iPod Shuffle loaded with his favorite composers kept him in good spirits, Noble said.

Washnitzer enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces (now the U.S. Air Force) in 1944 during World War II, but never saw combat due to a surplus of pilots and a shortage of planes, Noble said. He received his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Brooklyn College in 1947 before coming to Princeton to study under Salomon Bochner. Washnitzer received his Ph.D. the same year as John Nash, and the two remained friends.

Washnitzer was married to Lillian Noble née Berg, who escaped from Belgium in 1941, from 1953 until her death Jan. 23. Washnitzer is survived by his sons George Noble and Bernard Noble of New York City, and James Noble of Summit, New Jersey, and by seven grandchildren.