Cathleen Synge Morawetz
Encyclopedia
Cathleen Synge Morawetz (born May 5, 1923 in Toronto
, Canada
) is a mathematician
. Morawetz's research was mainly in the study of the partial differential equation
s governing fluid flow, particularly those of mixed type occurring in transonic flow. She is Professor Emerita at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
at the New York University
, where she has also served as director from 1984 to 1988.
was an Irish
mathematician, specializing in the geometry of general relativity
and her mother also studied mathematics for a time. Her childhood was split between Ireland and Canada. Both her parents were supportive of her interest in mathematics and science, and it was a woman mathematician, Cecilia Krieger
, who had been a family friend for many years who later encouraged Morawetz to pursue a PhD in mathematics. Morawetz says her father was influential in stimulating her interest in mathematics, but he wondered whether her studying mathematics would be wise (suggesting they might fight like the Bernoulli brothers).
in 1945 and received her master's degree in 1946 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
. Morawetz got a job at New York University
where she edited Supersonic Flow and Shock Waves by Richard Courant
and Kurt Friedrichs. She earned her Ph.D. at New York University
, with a thesis on the stability of a spherical implosion. She became an American citizen in 1951.
She published work on a variety of topics in applied mathematics
including viscocity, compressible fluids
and transonic flows. Turning to the mathematics of transonic flow, she showed that specially designed shockless airfoils develop shocks if they are perturbed even by a small amount. This discovery opened up the problem of developing a theory for a flow with shocks.
Subsequently the shocks she predicted mathematically have been experimentally observed
as air flows around the wing of a plane
In 1957 she became an assistant professor at Courant. At this point she began to work more closely with her colleagues publishing important joint papers with Peter Lax
and Ralph Phillips
on the decay of solutions to the wave equation
around a star shaped obstacle. She continued with important solo work on the wave equation and transonic flow around a profile until she was promoted to full professor by 1965.
At this point her research expanded to a variety of problems including papers on the Tricomi equation the nonrelatavistic wave equation including questions of decay and scattering.
Her first doctoral student, Lesley Sibner
, graduated in 1964. In the 1970s she worked on questions of scattering theory
and the nonlinear wave equation.
. She is a professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
at NYU, where she served as director from 1984 to 1988, becoming the first woman ever to be director of a mathematics institute in the United States.
In 1998 she was awarded the National Medal of Science
. In 2004 she
received the Leroy P. Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement. In 2006 she won the George David Birkhoff Prize in Applied Mathematics.
Morawetz is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences
. In 1995, she became the second woman elected to the office of president of the American Mathematical Society
. In 1998 she was awarded the National Medal of Science
. In 1983 and in 1988, she was selected as a Noether Lecturer. She was named Outstanding Woman Scientist for 1993 by the Association for Women in Science.
New York University
1964
Barry Marder New York University
1969
Chin-Hung Ching New York University 1971
Charles Weber New York University 1976
Wei Tseng New York University 1976
Michael Pilant New York University 1982 1
Christian Klingenberg New York University
1983
Lynne Ipina New York University 1986
Paulo Zingano New York University 1990
, NYC with her husband Herbert Morawetz, a polymer
chemist. They have four children, eight grandchildren and one great grandchild. Their children are Pegeen Rubinstein, John, Lida Jeck and Nancy Morawetz (a professor at New York University School of Law
who manages its Immigrant Rights Clinic). Upon being honored by the National Organization for Women for successfully combining career and family, Morawetz quipped, "Maybe I became a mathematician because I was so crummy at housework." She says her current nonmathematical interests are "grandchildren and sailing."
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
) is a mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
. Morawetz's research was mainly in the study of the partial differential equation
Partial differential equation
In mathematics, partial differential equations are a type of differential equation, i.e., a relation involving an unknown function of several independent variables and their partial derivatives with respect to those variables...
s governing fluid flow, particularly those of mixed type occurring in transonic flow. She is Professor Emerita at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences is an independent division of New York University under the Faculty of Arts & Science that serves as a center for research and advanced training in computer science and mathematics...
at the New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, where she has also served as director from 1984 to 1988.
Childhood
Morawetz's father, John Lighton SyngeJohn Lighton Synge
John Lighton Synge was an Irish mathematician and physicist.-Background:Synge was born 1897 in Dublin, Ireland, in a Protestant family and educated at St. Andrew's College, Dublin. He entered Trinity College, Dublin in 1915...
was an Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
mathematician, specializing in the geometry of general relativity
General relativity
General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916. It is the current description of gravitation in modern physics...
and her mother also studied mathematics for a time. Her childhood was split between Ireland and Canada. Both her parents were supportive of her interest in mathematics and science, and it was a woman mathematician, Cecilia Krieger
Cecilia Krieger
Cypra Cecilia Krieger-Dunaij was an Austro-Hungarian -born mathematician of Jewish ancestry who lived and worked in Canada....
, who had been a family friend for many years who later encouraged Morawetz to pursue a PhD in mathematics. Morawetz says her father was influential in stimulating her interest in mathematics, but he wondered whether her studying mathematics would be wise (suggesting they might fight like the Bernoulli brothers).
Education
Morawetz graduated from the University of TorontoUniversity of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
in 1945 and received her master's degree in 1946 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. Morawetz got a job at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
where she edited Supersonic Flow and Shock Waves by Richard Courant
Richard Courant
Richard Courant was a German American mathematician.- Life :Courant was born in Lublinitz in the German Empire's Prussian Province of Silesia. During his youth, his parents had to move quite often, to Glatz, Breslau, and in 1905 to Berlin. He stayed in Breslau and entered the university there...
and Kurt Friedrichs. She earned her Ph.D. at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, with a thesis on the stability of a spherical implosion. She became an American citizen in 1951.
Career
After earning her doctorate, Morawetz spent a year as a research associate at MIT before returning to work as a research associate at Courant Institute for five more years. During this time she had no teaching requirements and could focus purely on research.She published work on a variety of topics in applied mathematics
Applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with mathematical methods that are typically used in science, engineering, business, and industry. Thus, "applied mathematics" is a mathematical science with specialized knowledge...
including viscocity, compressible fluids
and transonic flows. Turning to the mathematics of transonic flow, she showed that specially designed shockless airfoils develop shocks if they are perturbed even by a small amount. This discovery opened up the problem of developing a theory for a flow with shocks.
Subsequently the shocks she predicted mathematically have been experimentally observed
as air flows around the wing of a plane
In 1957 she became an assistant professor at Courant. At this point she began to work more closely with her colleagues publishing important joint papers with Peter Lax
Peter Lax
Peter David Lax is a mathematician working in the areas of pure and applied mathematics. He has made important contributions to integrable systems, fluid dynamics and shock waves, solitonic physics, hyperbolic conservation laws, and mathematical and scientific computing, among other fields...
and Ralph Phillips
Ralph Phillips
Ralph Phillips may refer to:*List of Looney Tunes characters#Ralph Phillips*Ralph "Bucky" Phillips, American criminal*Ralph S. Phillips*Ralph Phillips Lowe, former Governor of Iowa...
on the decay of solutions to the wave equation
Wave equation
The wave equation is an important second-order linear partial differential equation for the description of waves – as they occur in physics – such as sound waves, light waves and water waves. It arises in fields like acoustics, electromagnetics, and fluid dynamics...
around a star shaped obstacle. She continued with important solo work on the wave equation and transonic flow around a profile until she was promoted to full professor by 1965.
At this point her research expanded to a variety of problems including papers on the Tricomi equation the nonrelatavistic wave equation including questions of decay and scattering.
Her first doctoral student, Lesley Sibner
Lesley Sibner
Leslie Sibner is a mathematician and professor of mathematics at Polytechnic Institute of New York University. She earned her Bachelors at City College CUNY in Mathematics. She completed her doctorate at Courant Institute NYU in 1964 under the joint supervision of Lipman Bers and Cathleen Morawetz...
, graduated in 1964. In the 1970s she worked on questions of scattering theory
Scattering theory
In mathematics and physics, scattering theory is a framework for studying and understanding the scattering of waves and particles. Prosaically, wave scattering corresponds to the collision and scattering of a wave with some material object, for instance sunlight scattered by rain drops to form a...
and the nonlinear wave equation.
Honors
In 1981, she delivered the Gibbs Lecture of The American Mathematical Society, and in 1982 presented an Invited Address at a meeting of the Society for Industrial and Applied MathematicsSociety for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics was founded by a small group of mathematicians from academia and industry who met in Philadelphia in 1951 to start an organization whose members would meet periodically to exchange ideas about the uses of mathematics in industry. This meeting led...
. She is a professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences is an independent division of New York University under the Faculty of Arts & Science that serves as a center for research and advanced training in computer science and mathematics...
at NYU, where she served as director from 1984 to 1988, becoming the first woman ever to be director of a mathematics institute in the United States.
In 1998 she was awarded the National Medal of Science
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
. In 2004 she
received the Leroy P. Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement. In 2006 she won the George David Birkhoff Prize in Applied Mathematics.
Morawetz is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
. In 1995, she became the second woman elected to the office of president of the American Mathematical Society
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...
. In 1998 she was awarded the National Medal of Science
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
. In 1983 and in 1988, she was selected as a Noether Lecturer. She was named Outstanding Woman Scientist for 1993 by the Association for Women in Science.
Doctoral Students
Lesley SibnerLesley Sibner
Leslie Sibner is a mathematician and professor of mathematics at Polytechnic Institute of New York University. She earned her Bachelors at City College CUNY in Mathematics. She completed her doctorate at Courant Institute NYU in 1964 under the joint supervision of Lipman Bers and Cathleen Morawetz...
New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
1964
Barry Marder New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
1969
Chin-Hung Ching New York University 1971
Charles Weber New York University 1976
Wei Tseng New York University 1976
Michael Pilant New York University 1982 1
Christian Klingenberg New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
1983
Lynne Ipina New York University 1986
Paulo Zingano New York University 1990
Personal life
Morawetz now lives in Greenwich VillageGreenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, NYC with her husband Herbert Morawetz, a polymer
Polymer
A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. These subunits are typically connected by covalent chemical bonds...
chemist. They have four children, eight grandchildren and one great grandchild. Their children are Pegeen Rubinstein, John, Lida Jeck and Nancy Morawetz (a professor at New York University School of Law
New York University School of Law
The New York University School of Law is the law school of New York University. Established in 1835, the school offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in law, and is located in Greenwich Village, in the New York City borough of Manhattan....
who manages its Immigrant Rights Clinic). Upon being honored by the National Organization for Women for successfully combining career and family, Morawetz quipped, "Maybe I became a mathematician because I was so crummy at housework." She says her current nonmathematical interests are "grandchildren and sailing."
External links
- "Cathleen Morawetz", Biographies of Women Mathematicians, Agnes Scott CollegeAgnes Scott CollegeAgnes Scott College is a private undergraduate college in the United States. Agnes Scott's campus lies in downtown Decatur, Georgia, nestled inside the perimeter of the bustling metro-Atlanta area....