American Philosophical Society
Member History

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Resident[X]
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104. Mathematics[X]
1Name:  Dr. Peter D. Lax
 Institution:  New York University
 Year Elected:  1996
 Class:  1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences
 Subdivision:  104. Mathematics
 Residency:  Resident
 Living? :   Living
 Birth Date:  1926
   
 
Peter D. Lax is a most distinguished mathematician who has earned renown for his contributions in both pure and applied mathematics. One of many methods named after him is Lax pairs, which came from his analysis of fluid dynamics. His name is connected with many major mathematical results and numerical methods, including the Lax equivalence theorem, Lax-Friedrichs scheme, Lax-Wendroff scheme, Lax entropy condition, and Lax-Levermore theory. His work covers all aspects of partial differential equations. In linear theory it includes his fundamental oscillatory approximation for solving hyperbolic equations, which led to the theory of Fourier Integral Operators. His famous collaboration with R.S. Phillips involves extremely deep work in scattering theory and connects with problems on automorphic functions in hyperbolic geometry. Dr. Lax has also done basic work in numerical analysis for partial differential equations. In nonlinear theory he has done fundamental work on shock waves, and on KdV equations: completely integrable systems possessing solition solutions. A native of Hungary, Dr. Lax earned his Ph.D. from New York University in 1949 and has served at NYU's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences since 1958. He has also directed the Courant Mathematics and Computing Lab and is currently Professor of Mathematics Emeritus. Dr. Lax has won many honors such as the Chauvenet Prize (1974), the National Medal of Science (1986), the Wolf Prize (1987), the Abel Prize (2005) and membership in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Lax is the author of numerous works, including textbooks on functional analysis, linear algebra, calculus and partial differential equations.
 
2Name:  Dr. Cathleen S. Morawetz
 Institution:  New York University & New York Mayor's Commission on Science & Technology
 Year Elected:  1996
 Class:  1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences
 Subdivision:  104. Mathematics
 Residency:  Resident
 Living? :   Deceased
 Birth Date:  1923
 Death Date:  August 8, 2017
   
 
Mathematician Cathleen Synge Morawetz was born in Toronto, Canada in 1923. She graduated from the University of Toronto in 1945 and received her master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She then earned her Ph.D. at New York University with a thesis on the stability of a spherical implosion. She became an assistant professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at NYU in 1957 and remained at NYU throughout her career, serving as the Institute's director from 1984-88. Dr. Morawetz is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a former president of the American Mathematical Society and the recipient of the 1998 National Medal of Science. She was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1996. Her research focused mainly on the study of the partial differential equations governing fluid flow, particularly those of mixed type occurring in transonic flow. She died August 8, 2017 at the age of 94 at home in Manhattan.
 
Election Year
1996[X]