Beno Eckmann (31 March 1917 – 25 November 2008) was a Swiss mathematician who made contributions to algebraic topology, homological algebra, group theory, and differential geometry.
Life
Born to a Jewish family in Bern, Eckmann received his master's degree from Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH) in 1939. Later, he studied there under Heinz Hopf, obtaining his Ph.D. in 1941. His dissertation, on homotopy theory, was jointly supervised by Heinz Hopf and Ferdinand Gonseth.2
In 1942 he obtained a lecturer position at the University of Lausanne. He became an extraordinary professor there before, in 1948, taking a full professorship at ETH Zurich, where he remained until his 1984 retirement. He was also President of the Swiss Mathematical Society for 1961–1962, and the founding head of the Mathematics Research Institute at ETH Zurich from 1964 until his retirement.3
Recognition
A colloquium in honor of Eckmann's 60th birthday was held in Zurich in 1977.4 Eckmann was elected to the Academia Europaea in 1993.5 He was the 2008 recipient of the Albert Einstein Medal.6
He was awarded honorary degrees by the University of Fribourg in 1964, the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in 1967, and the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in 1983.7
Legacy
Calabi–Eckmann manifolds, Eckmann–Hilton duality, the Eckmann–Hilton argument, and the Eckmann–Shapiro lemma are named after Eckmann.
Family
Eckmann's son is mathematical physicist Jean-Pierre Eckmann.8
External links
- Quotations related to Beno Eckmann at Wikiquote
References
"Beno Eckmann". Members. Academia Europaea. Retrieved 2024-04-25. https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Eckmann_Beno ↩
Beno Eckmann at the Mathematics Genealogy Project https://mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=18355 ↩
O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Beno Eckmann", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews /wiki/Edmund_F._Robertson ↩
O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Beno Eckmann", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews /wiki/Edmund_F._Robertson ↩
"Beno Eckmann". Members. Academia Europaea. Retrieved 2024-04-25. https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Eckmann_Beno ↩
2008 Albert Einstein Medal Laureate.(in German). Albert Einstein Society. Accessed December 2, 2008. http://www.einstein-bern.ch/index.php?lang=de&show=laudatio&subs=eckmann ↩
O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Beno Eckmann", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews /wiki/Edmund_F._Robertson ↩
Profile for Jean-Pierre Eckmann on geni.com, retrieved 2011-04-30; Photo of Jean-Pierre Eckmann as a child with his parents, in the mathematical photo collection of the Mathematical Research Institute of Oberwolfach, retrieved 2011-04-30. http://www.geni.com/people/Jean-Pierre-Eckmann/6000000005004900978 ↩