Paul Smith
Columbia University
May 18, 1900 - June 13, 1980
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Scientific Discipline: Mathematics Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1947)
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Mathematician Paul A. Smith was a pioneer in the fields of topology and group theory, especially where the two overlap. He developed a method to find fixed points of periodic transformations and was able to determine the real folds of algebraic surfaces, mainly spheres. The functioning of this particular discipline of topological group theory was relatively unknown until he published his conjecture. He is considered one of the mathematicians that made the United States a world leader in mathematical research and discovery.
Smith earned his BS degree in 1921 from Dartmouth College. He went on to Princeton University, where he was awarded his PhD in 1926. From1926 to 1927 he served as a National Research Fellow at Harvard University. The remainder of his academic career was spent at Columbia University and Barnard College.
