Person: Wilczynski, Ernest Julius

Ernest Wilczynski was an American mathematician who may be considered the founder of projective differential geometry.

Wilczynski attended schools in Chicago, but rather than take his university education in the United States he returned to Germany to study at the university of Berlin.
Wilczynski was taught at Berlin by some outstanding mathematicians including Fuchs, Hensel, Planck, Pringsheim, Schlesinger and Schwarz.
In 1902 Wilczynski was promoted to assistant professor at Berkeley, then in 1906 to associate professor.
During the years from 1903 to 1905 Wilczynski worked in Europe as associate of the Carnegie Institution.
Wilczynski moved to the University of Illinois in 1907, then in 1910 he was appointed to Chicago filling a vacancy caused by the death of Maschke in 1908.
Wilczynski began his research career as a mathematical astronomer.
However, Wilczynski's main work was in projective differential geometry and ruler surfaces.
But Wilczynski was the first ever to appreciate, demonstrate and exploit the utility of completely integrable systems of linear homogeneous differential equations for projective differential geometry.
Wilczynski received many honours for his outstanding research contributions.
It is not only as a research mathematician that Wilczynski excelled.

Born 13 November 1876, Hamburg, Germany. Died 14 September 1932, Denver, Colorado, USA.

View full biography at MacTutor

Astronomy, Origin Germany

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O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive