INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED MATHEMATICIAN
S.S. CHERN DIES
Differential Geometry Expert Served as Distinguished Visiting Professor
Emeritus at UH
HOUSTON, Dec. 7, 2004 – Internationally acclaimed mathematician
Shiing-Shen Chern, a Distinguished Visiting Professor Emeritus at
the University of Houston, has died in Tianjin, China. He was 93.
Chern passed away Dec. 3, according to press reports, on the campus
of Nankai University, where he served as director of its mathematics
center. One source cited heart failure as the apparent cause of
death.
He was considered the greatest differential geometer of the 20th
century, and his creation – Chern Classes – is considered
a fundamental principle of mathematical physics. Born in 1911, Chern
graduated from Nankai University in 1930. After further study at
Beijing's Tsinghua University and in Europe, Chern taught during
World War II both in China and at the Institute for Advanced Study
in the United States.
Chern eventually went to the University of Chicago and became a
naturalized U.S. citizen. In 1960, he moved to the University of
California at Berkeley, where a mathematics chair was recently endowed
in his name. In 1980, he became founding director of the Mathematical
Sciences Research Institute (MSRI).
His association with the University of Houston’s department
of mathematics involved yearly visits and lectures that began in
1988. From 1992 to 2000, he served as an editor of the Houston Journal
of Mathematics (published by UH’s math department). Two years
ago, an entire issue of HJM was dedicated to Chern.
Chern was the father-in-law of UH Professor of Physics Paul Chu,
who holds the TLL Temple Chair of Science and is Founding Director
of the Texas Center for Superconductivity. Chu is also President
of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Chu is married
to Chern’s daughter, May, herself a mathematician.
“He was happy and healthy,” Chu said. “This came
suddenly for all of us who loved and admired him. He lived a full
life, and one can’t ask for more than that. But he still had
many things he wanted to complete. This is a great loss.”
An official memorial service honoring Chern is planned by the Chinese
government Dec. 12 at Nankai University.
The inaugural Shaw Prize in Mathematics (with a $1 million award)
was given to Chern in September to recognize his singular contributions
to, and influence on, the world of mathematics. He donated the prize
the several institutes for the development of mathematics and physics.
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