Tracy Y. Thomas
University of California, Los Angeles
January 8, 1899 - March 23, 1983
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Scientific Discipline: Mathematics Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1941)
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Tracy Y. Thomas was a well-versed mathematician who wrote a number of papers on subjects ranging from the theory of relativity to plasticity. Much of the math he researched pertained to applications of physics. He spent the majority of his career concerned with differential geometry, especially tensors, which are geometric expressions of linear relations between vectors and spaces. These are extremely useful in describing measured quantities.
Thomas earned his AB degree from Rice University in 1921. He went on to Princeton University, where he received his AM degree in 1922 and his PhD in 1923. He spent a year as a National Research Fellow in physics at the University of Chicago and accepted a faculty position at Princeton University in 1926, remaining there until 1938. Thomas served as chair of the Department of Mathematics from 1944 to 1969 at Indiana University. He also served as vice-president of the American Mathematical Society from 1940 to 1942 and held memberships in the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America.
