Biography:John Hempel
John Hempel | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 14, 1935 Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Died | January 13, 2022 (aged 86) St. Petersburg, Florida |
| Alma mater | University of Utah University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Spouse(s) | Edith Hempel |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Rice University |
| Thesis | A surface in S3 is tame if it can be deformed into each complementary domain (1962) |
| Doctoral advisor | R. H. Bing |
John Paul Hempel (October 14, 1935 – January 13, 2022[1]) was an American mathematician specialising in geometric topology, in particular the topology of 3-manifolds and associated algebraic problems, mainly in group theory.[2]
Early life and career
Hempel was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1957 he graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in mathematics. In 1962, he defended his thesis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, under the supervision of R. H. Bing.[3] He was a professor at Rice University until the time of his death.[1]
He was married to Edith, whom he married on September 1, 1965, in Houston, Texas. He had 1 son and 3 grandchildren.[1]
Outside of mathematics, Hempel was a nature enthusiast. As a child he was adventurous, and taught himself to mountain bike. He was also fascinated by camping, climbing, skiing and boating. In addition, he knew how to play the piano.[4] In 2013, Hempel was elected a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.[5]
Hempel showed that the fundamental groups of 2-manifolds are residually finite.[6] He also introduced the study of the curve complex into 3-manifold topology.[7]
Hempel wrote a book called 3-manifolds in 1976.[8][9][10][11] His research was in topology.[12]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Obituary of John Paul Hempel | Anderson-McQueen - N.E. St. Petersburg Family Tribute Center" (in en-US). https://andersonmcqueen.com/tribute/details/255017/John-Hempel/obituary.html.
- ↑ "John Hempel | Faculty | The People of Rice | Rice University". https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/john-hempel.
- ↑ John Hempel at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
- ↑ "John Hempel - 1687 East 900 South, Hempel House" (in en). http://diestelmichigan.weebly.com/john-hempel---1687-east-900-south-hempel-house.html.
- ↑ "Fellows of the American Mathematical Society" (in en). http://www.ams.org/cgi-bin/fellows/fellows.cgi.
- ↑ "algebraic topology - John Hempel's proof of residual finiteness of surface groups" (in en). https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/751823/john-hempels-proof-of-residual-finiteness-of-surface-groups.
- ↑ Hempel, John (2001). "3-manifolds as viewed from the curve complex". Topology 40 (3): 631–657. doi:10.1016/S0040-9383(00)00033-1.
- ↑ Hempel, John (1976) (in en). 3-manifolds. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-8218-6939-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=m_0mgOYSRAgC.
- ↑ "Hempel: 3-Manifolds" (in en). https://www.ams.org/publications/authors/books/postpub/chel-349.
- ↑ Scott, G. P. (1977-11-01). "3-MANIFOLDS" (in en). Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society 9 (3): 345–346. doi:10.1112/blms/9.3.345. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1112/blms/9.3.345.
- ↑ "3-Manifolds | Mathematical Association of America". https://www.maa.org/publications/maa-reviews/3-manifolds.
- ↑ "In Memory Of ... John Hempel" (in en). 12 April 2022. http://www.ams.org/publicoutreach/in-memory/in-memory.
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