Eliakim Hastings Moore

views updated

Eliakim Hastings Moore

1862-1932

American mathematician often credited with establishing the University of Chicago as a world-class center of mathematical study, which it remains to this day. Moore earned his doctorate at Yale in 1885, then traveled to Europe to study, primarily at the University of Berlin, where mathematics research was at its height. After teaching at Northwestern and Yale, Moore was made head of the mathematics department at the University of Chicago when it first opened in 1892. An atypical genius, Moore was not only a progressive, innovative thinker, but also inspired others to do their best work. He was first vicepresident, then president, of the American Mathematical Society, and editor of the Transactions of the Society from 1899 to 1907.

More From encyclopedia.com