Norman Arthur Wiegmann

Norman Arthur Wiegmann (13 April 1920–14 November 2001) was a mathematician specializing in modern algebra, in particular linear algebra and matrix theory, who spent a major part of his career teaching at the George Washington University and other universities. He never married, and did not have any children.

Background and Education

Dr. Wiegmann was born on April 13, 1920 in Los Angeles, California.

He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California in mathematics earning a Phi Beta Kappa Key in 1941. Two years later in 1943 he earned his Masters degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in mathematics. In 1947 he earned his doctorate from University of Wisconsin–Madison, also in mathematics and under the supervision of Cyrus MacDuffee. His doctoral thesis was entitled "The Theory of Normal Matrices with Some Analogs of the Generalized Principal Axis Transformation."

Career

Wiegmann's took his first teaching position while earning his master and doctoral degrees at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. From 1941-1947 he served as a teaching assistant at this institution. Upon receiving his doctorate, Wiegmann taught at the University of Michigan from 1947 to 1951, and then made a change of career, working as a research mathematician at the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, DC from 1951 to 1953. After leaving this job he went back to teaching, at the Catholic University of America as an associate and later a full professor in mathematics from 1953 to 1960. During this time he guided a number of students to earning their doctorate degrees in mathematics as the director of their dissertations, including Dominick Finn, Matthew Audibert, and Harry Hock. In 1960 Wiegmann decided to leave the Catholic University to join The George Washington University, also in Washington, DC. He served as a professor specializing in modern algebra, in particular linear algebra and matrix theory, with an office in the heart of the university's campus. While there he published a number of papers on mathematics including "Canonical Forms For Certain Matrices Under Unitary Congruence," in the Canadian Journal of Mathematics for July 1960, "Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Unitary Similarity," in the Journal of Australian Mathematical Society in the 1961/1962 volume, and "Trace Properties of Semigroups of Matrices with Quaternion Elements" in the Duke Mathematical Journal in 1962.

After leaving The George Washington University Wiegmann moved back to his native California and served as the chair of the mathematics department at the California State University in Dominguez Hills.

Awards

Wiegmann was a member of the honor organizations of Phi Beta Kappa, the American Mathematical Society, and Sigma Xi.

Personal life

Wiegmann never married nor did he have any children; he had a nephew, Richard, who lived in Nebraska. He died of leukemia in November 2001.

Publications

Wiegmann conducted research throughout his adult life. His Ph.D. dissertation was entitled The theory of Normal Matrices with some Analogs of Generalized Principle Axis Transformation. His publications in later life include:

• "Some Analogs of the Generalized Principal Axis Transformation," published in the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, Vol. 54, 1948.
• “Normal Products of Matrices,” published in the Duke Mathematical Journal, Vol. 15, No. 3, September, 1948.
• “A Note on Infinite Normal Matrices,” published in the Duke mathematical Journal, Vol. 16, No. 4, December, 1949.
• “A Note on Pair of Normal Matrices with Property L,” published in the Proceedings of the American Mathematics Society, Vol. 4, No. 1, February, 1953.
• “Computational Experience in Solving Linear Programs.” co- authored with A. Hoffman, M. Mannos, and D. Sokolowsky, published in the first issue of the Journal of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Vol. 1, 1953.
• “Some Theorems on Matrices with Real Quaternion Elements,” published in the Canadian Journal of Mathematics, Vol. 7, April, 1955.
• “Some Generalization of Burnside’s Theorem,” published in the Canadian Journal of Mathematics, Vol. 9, 1957,
• “The Transpose of a Matrix,” in Portugalia Mathematicae, Vol. 18, No. 3-4.
• “Canonical Forms For Certain Matrices Under Unitary Congruence,” co-authored with Joseph Stander, Published in the Canadian Journal of Mathematics, Vol. 12, July, 1960.
• “Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Unitary Similarity, published in the Journal of the Australian Mathematical Society, Vol. 2, 1961/62.
• “Trace Properties of Semigroups of Matrices with Quaternion Elements,” published in the Duke Mathematical Journal, Vol. 29, No. 1, 1962.
• “Infinite Quasi-Normal Matrices,” published in the Canadian Journal of Mathematics, Vol. 25, No. 4, 1973.

References

1. G.W. Math Professors. Special Collections and University Archives, Gelman Library, the George Washington University, Retrieved on the date of April 23, 2008

2. The Orange County Registrar Leisure World Obituaries November 17, 2001 Retrieved on the date of April 22, 2008

3- The Mathematics Genealogy Project.NDSU Department of Mathematics. Retrieved on the date of April 16, 2008

4- University Bulletins. Special Collections and University Archives, Gelman Library, the George Washington University, Retrieved on the date of April 23, 2008

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Name	Wiegmann, Norman Arthur
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Date of birth	1920
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Date of death	2001
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