Oswald Veblen

Oswald Veblen
Oswald Veblen (photo ca. 1915)
Born	(1880-06-24)June 24, 1880 Decorah, Iowa, U.S.
Died	August 10, 1960(1960-08-10) (aged 80) Brooklin, Maine, U.S.
Institutions	Princeton University, Institute for Advanced Study
Alma mater	University of Iowa, Harvard University, University of Chicago
Thesis	A System of Axioms for Geometry (1903)
Doctoral advisor	E. H. Moore
Doctoral students	J. W. Alexander H. Roy Brahana Alonzo Church Philip Franklin Harold Hotelling Howard H. Mitchell Robert Lee Moore Tracy Thomas J. H. C. Whitehead

Oswald Veblen (June 24, 1880 – August 10, 1960) was an American mathematician, geometer and topologist, whose work found application in atomic physics and the theory of relativity. He proved the Jordan curve theorem in 1905; while this was long considered the first rigorous proof, many now also consider Jordan's original proof rigorous.

Veblen was born in Decorah, Iowa. His parents were Andrew Anderson Veblen (1848-1932) and Kirsti (Hougen) Veblen (1851-1908). Veblen's uncle was Thorstein Veblen, noted economist and sociologist. He went to school in Iowa City. He did his undergraduate studies at the University of Iowa, where he received an A.B. in 1898, and Harvard University, where he was awarded a second B.A. in 1900. For his graduate studies, he went to study mathematics at the University of Chicago, where he obtained a Ph.D. in 1903. His dissertation, A System of Axioms for Geometry was written under the supervision of E. H. Moore. During World War I, Veblen served first as a captain, later as a major in the army.

Veblen taught mathematics at Princeton University from 1905 to 1932. In 1926, he was named Henry B. Fine Professor of Mathematics. In 1932, he helped organize the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, resigning his professorship to become the first professor at the Institute that same year. He kept his professorship at the Institute until he was made emeritus in 1950.

During his years in Princeton, Veblen and his wife Elizabeth accumulated land along the Princeton Ridge. In 1957 they donated 82 acres (33 ha) to establish the Herrontown Woods Arboretum, one of the largest nature preserves in Princeton, New Jersey.