A. A. Albert | |
---|---|
Born |
Chicago |
November 9, 1905
Died | June 6, 1972 Chicago |
(aged 66)
Nationality | American |
Fields | mathematics |
Institutions |
Columbia University University of Chicago |
Alma mater | University of Chicago |
Doctoral advisor | L. E. Dickson |
Doctoral students |
Richard Block Nathan Divinsky Murray Gerstenhaber Anatol Rapaport |
Known for | Albert algebras |
Notable awards | Cole Prize (1939) |
Abraham Adrian Albert (November 9, 1905 – June 6, 1972) was an American mathematician. In 1939, he received the American Mathematical Society's Cole Prize in Algebra for his work on Riemann matrices. He is best known for his work on the Albert–Brauer–Hasse–Noether theorem on finite-dimensional division algebras over number fields and as the developer of Albert algebras, which are also known as exceptional Jordan algebras.
A second generation American, he was born in Chicago and most associated with that city. He received his Bachelor of Science in 1926, Masters in 1927, and PhD in 1928, at the age of 22. All degrees were obtained from the University of Chicago. He married around the same time as his graduation. He spent his postdoctoral year at Princeton University and then from 1929 to 1931 he was an instructor at Columbia University. During this period he worked on Abelian varieties and their endomorphism algebras. He returned to Princeton for the opening year of the Institute for Advanced Study in 1933-34 and spent another year in Princeton in 1961-62 as the first Director of the Communications Research Division of IDA (the Institute for Defense Analyses).
From 1931 to 1972, he served on the mathematics faculty at the University of Chicago, where he became chair of the Mathematics Department in 1958 and Dean of the Physical Sciences Division in 1961.