- Email: [email protected]
Photograph, biosketch and editorial for special issue
Applied Mathematics and Computation 217 (2010) 953–955
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Applied Mathematics and Computation journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/amc
Editorial
Photograph, biosketch and editorial for special issue
George Leitmann was born 85 years ago in Vienna, Austria. He emigrated to the United States in mid-1940 and entered a technical High School in New York. On graduation in 1943 he joined the US army in a Combat Engineer Battalion. He saw combat in France and Germany from late 1944 till the end of the war in Europe in May 1945. During this period, his unit was attached to the First French Army; for his actions in the battle for Colmar, the French awarded him the Croix de Guerre avec Palmes. At the end of WW II he was transferred to the US Army Counter Intelligence Corps as its youngest Special Agent and served as an interrogator at the Nuremberg war crimes trial during the first half of 1946. After discharge from the army, he entered Columbia University from which he received a BA and an MS in physics in 1949 and 1950, respectively. Thereafter he worked, first as a physicist and later as head of aeroballistics at the US Naval Ordnance Test Station. It was during that period that he was concerned with rocket ballistics, both stability and optimization. This led to his thesis research at the University of California, Berkeley, from which he received the PhD in Engineering Science in 1956. A year later he joined the engineering faculty at UC Berkeley. There he began to extend his work on the Calculus of Variations and optimal control, both in theory and applications, some of which is in an introductory text (1967) and two edited volumes (1965 and 1969) and expanded in a basic text (1981). These contributions were awarded the Goddard aerospace award and the flight mechanics award of the AIAA. This work led, in turn, to research in dynamical game theory and its 0096-3003/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.amc.2010.05.019
954
Editorial / Applied Mathematics and Computation 217 (2010) 953–955
applications which resulted in three books (1966, 1967 and 1974) and numerous edited and co-authored volumes. In the early 1970s and extending into the 1990s, he was concerned with research in robust control with emphasis on uncertain systems and applications in engineering, science, economics and management for which he was awarded the Levy Medal of the Franklin Institute and more recently the Rufus Isaacs Award, the highest distinction of the International Society of Dynamic Games as well as the Oldenburger Medal of the ASME. George is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and of six foreign academies of science or engineering, and he holds three honorary degrees from European universities. He is also a Commander in the Orders of Merit of Germany and Italy. Professionally, in addition to serving a Acting Dean and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research and of Academic Affairs in the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley, he edited for 16 years the arguably most prestigious journal of mathematical analysis and applications founded by Richard Bellman. He was also and continues to be associate editor of numerous other journals. Since emeritation in 1991, from which he was recalled within a month, he has served as Associate Dean for Research and two terms as chair of the engineering faculty, and he is presently Professor in the Graduate School and Associate Dean for International Relations. He has also returned to his earlier interest in the Calculus of Variations resulting in many extensions of a 1967 Note based on the methodology of equivalent problems and regularizing transformations which simplify the classical approach of Caratheodory. Another topic of an early Note (1963) concerns the extension of Hamilton’s principle to nonconservative systems, a subject which is again of interest and research today. Additionally, research on collision avoidance initiated in the early 1970s in collaboration with Jan Skowronski forms the basis of much of the current collision avoidance applications. Since many of George’s doctoral students and postdocs were international ones, his collaborations have always transcended the US borders. For this he was awarded the Humboldt Medal and the Heisenberg Medal of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. A prime example of international collaboration is the development of a geometric theory of optimal control and dynamical games with the late Austin Blaquiere of the University of Paris. For this work, as well as control of deterministic uncertain systems, and exemplary service to the control field, he was awarded the Richard Bellman Control Heritage Award, the highest distinction of the American Automatic Control Council. George and Nancy were married in 1955. They have a son and a daughter, as well as three grandchildren. The Leitmanns are avid physical exercisers, a trait they have passed on to their progeny. They are also deeply involved in the arts, as collectors, performers and supporters. George currently serves as chair of the board of a small arts foundation in San Francisco and Nancy is active as a resource person in two regional theatres.
Editorial / Applied Mathematics and Computation 217 (2010) 953–955
955
This Special Issue of AMC is to honor and celebrate the contributions of George Leitmann, a most distinguished scientists and engineer. Many of us have had the opportunity to have been touched by his perceptive technical comments on widely varied scientific disciplines, his infectious enthusiasm, and his light hearted humor in the many interactions we have had with him over the years. He is a person deeply dedicated to science and deeply interested in helping everyone around him excel in scientific exploration. This issue brings together several papers, mainly from George’s colleagues, friends, and admirers, and they reflect the high standards that George himself has maintained in all his scientific and engineering research. The papers have all been reviewed and revised as per the standards of AMC. I am pleased that so many individuals have participated in bringing out this Special Issue as a celebration of George’s contributions to the numerous fields that he has helped originate, foster, and worked in. As seen from the extent of the participation of researchers and scientists from all across the world, his work has left indelible and seminal marks on numerous areas of science and engineering ranging from mechanics, to control theory and differential games, to socio-economic and eco-dynamic modeling. I came to know George more than 25 years ago when he came down to give a seminar at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and I was simply captivated by his outstanding and original presentation. Since then my admiration for him has continually grown, near exponentially. His intellectual brain power, his energy and vitality, his scientific curiosity, and his willingness to help any and everyone in his or her scientific pursuits, sets him apart from almost anyone that I know. He has set a new standard that pertains not just to quality of scientific research, but to the way we in the scientific world need to relate to one another—a standard that we all need to try and reach, and emulate. We wish George and his gracious wife, Nancy, continued good health and we hope that he will continue to do what he loves most—research—and that we will all be blessed by his guiding and benevolent hand for many, many more years to come. Firdaus E. Udwadia University of Southern California, 430K Olin Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1453, United States E-mail address: [email protected]
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Applied Mathematics and Computation journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/amc
Editorial
Photograph, biosketch and editorial for special issue
George Leitmann was born 85 years ago in Vienna, Austria. He emigrated to the United States in mid-1940 and entered a technical High School in New York. On graduation in 1943 he joined the US army in a Combat Engineer Battalion. He saw combat in France and Germany from late 1944 till the end of the war in Europe in May 1945. During this period, his unit was attached to the First French Army; for his actions in the battle for Colmar, the French awarded him the Croix de Guerre avec Palmes. At the end of WW II he was transferred to the US Army Counter Intelligence Corps as its youngest Special Agent and served as an interrogator at the Nuremberg war crimes trial during the first half of 1946. After discharge from the army, he entered Columbia University from which he received a BA and an MS in physics in 1949 and 1950, respectively. Thereafter he worked, first as a physicist and later as head of aeroballistics at the US Naval Ordnance Test Station. It was during that period that he was concerned with rocket ballistics, both stability and optimization. This led to his thesis research at the University of California, Berkeley, from which he received the PhD in Engineering Science in 1956. A year later he joined the engineering faculty at UC Berkeley. There he began to extend his work on the Calculus of Variations and optimal control, both in theory and applications, some of which is in an introductory text (1967) and two edited volumes (1965 and 1969) and expanded in a basic text (1981). These contributions were awarded the Goddard aerospace award and the flight mechanics award of the AIAA. This work led, in turn, to research in dynamical game theory and its 0096-3003/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.amc.2010.05.019
954
Editorial / Applied Mathematics and Computation 217 (2010) 953–955
applications which resulted in three books (1966, 1967 and 1974) and numerous edited and co-authored volumes. In the early 1970s and extending into the 1990s, he was concerned with research in robust control with emphasis on uncertain systems and applications in engineering, science, economics and management for which he was awarded the Levy Medal of the Franklin Institute and more recently the Rufus Isaacs Award, the highest distinction of the International Society of Dynamic Games as well as the Oldenburger Medal of the ASME. George is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and of six foreign academies of science or engineering, and he holds three honorary degrees from European universities. He is also a Commander in the Orders of Merit of Germany and Italy. Professionally, in addition to serving a Acting Dean and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research and of Academic Affairs in the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley, he edited for 16 years the arguably most prestigious journal of mathematical analysis and applications founded by Richard Bellman. He was also and continues to be associate editor of numerous other journals. Since emeritation in 1991, from which he was recalled within a month, he has served as Associate Dean for Research and two terms as chair of the engineering faculty, and he is presently Professor in the Graduate School and Associate Dean for International Relations. He has also returned to his earlier interest in the Calculus of Variations resulting in many extensions of a 1967 Note based on the methodology of equivalent problems and regularizing transformations which simplify the classical approach of Caratheodory. Another topic of an early Note (1963) concerns the extension of Hamilton’s principle to nonconservative systems, a subject which is again of interest and research today. Additionally, research on collision avoidance initiated in the early 1970s in collaboration with Jan Skowronski forms the basis of much of the current collision avoidance applications. Since many of George’s doctoral students and postdocs were international ones, his collaborations have always transcended the US borders. For this he was awarded the Humboldt Medal and the Heisenberg Medal of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. A prime example of international collaboration is the development of a geometric theory of optimal control and dynamical games with the late Austin Blaquiere of the University of Paris. For this work, as well as control of deterministic uncertain systems, and exemplary service to the control field, he was awarded the Richard Bellman Control Heritage Award, the highest distinction of the American Automatic Control Council. George and Nancy were married in 1955. They have a son and a daughter, as well as three grandchildren. The Leitmanns are avid physical exercisers, a trait they have passed on to their progeny. They are also deeply involved in the arts, as collectors, performers and supporters. George currently serves as chair of the board of a small arts foundation in San Francisco and Nancy is active as a resource person in two regional theatres.
Editorial / Applied Mathematics and Computation 217 (2010) 953–955
955
This Special Issue of AMC is to honor and celebrate the contributions of George Leitmann, a most distinguished scientists and engineer. Many of us have had the opportunity to have been touched by his perceptive technical comments on widely varied scientific disciplines, his infectious enthusiasm, and his light hearted humor in the many interactions we have had with him over the years. He is a person deeply dedicated to science and deeply interested in helping everyone around him excel in scientific exploration. This issue brings together several papers, mainly from George’s colleagues, friends, and admirers, and they reflect the high standards that George himself has maintained in all his scientific and engineering research. The papers have all been reviewed and revised as per the standards of AMC. I am pleased that so many individuals have participated in bringing out this Special Issue as a celebration of George’s contributions to the numerous fields that he has helped originate, foster, and worked in. As seen from the extent of the participation of researchers and scientists from all across the world, his work has left indelible and seminal marks on numerous areas of science and engineering ranging from mechanics, to control theory and differential games, to socio-economic and eco-dynamic modeling. I came to know George more than 25 years ago when he came down to give a seminar at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and I was simply captivated by his outstanding and original presentation. Since then my admiration for him has continually grown, near exponentially. His intellectual brain power, his energy and vitality, his scientific curiosity, and his willingness to help any and everyone in his or her scientific pursuits, sets him apart from almost anyone that I know. He has set a new standard that pertains not just to quality of scientific research, but to the way we in the scientific world need to relate to one another—a standard that we all need to try and reach, and emulate. We wish George and his gracious wife, Nancy, continued good health and we hope that he will continue to do what he loves most—research—and that we will all be blessed by his guiding and benevolent hand for many, many more years to come. Firdaus E. Udwadia University of Southern California, 430K Olin Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1453, United States E-mail address: [email protected]