Joseph Wedderburn

Joseph Wedderburn
Joseph Henry Maclagan Wedderburn (1882–1948)
Born(1882-02-02)2 February 1882
Forfar, Angus, Scotland
Died9 October 1948(1948-10-09) (aged 66)
NationalityBritish
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
Known forWedderburn-Etherington number
Artin–Wedderburn theorem
AwardsMacDougall-Brisbane Gold Medal,
Fellow of the Royal Society[1]
Scientific career
FieldsMathematician
InstitutionsPrinceton University
Doctoral advisorGeorge Chrystal
Doctoral studentsMerrill Flood
Nathan Jacobson
Ernst Snapper

Joseph Henry Maclagan Wedderburn FRSE FRS (2 February 1882 – 9 October 1948) was a Scottish mathematician, who taught at Princeton University for most of his career. A significant algebraist, he proved that a finite division algebra is a field, and part of the Artin–Wedderburn theorem on simple algebras. He also worked on group theory and matrix algebra.[2][3]

His younger brother was the lawyer Ernest Wedderburn.

  1. ^ Taylor, H. S. (1949). "Joseph Henry Maclagen Wedderburn. 1882-1948". Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society. 6 (18): 618–626. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1949.0016. JSTOR 768943. S2CID 179012329.
  2. ^ O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Joseph Wedderburn", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  3. ^ Joseph Wedderburn at the Mathematics Genealogy Project