Benjamin Abram Bernstein (20 May 1881, Pasvalys, Lithuania – 25 September 1964, Berkeley, California) was an American mathematician, specializing in mathematical logic.[1]

Biography

With his Jewish[2] family, Bernstein immigrated as a child to the United States. After completing public primary education in 1897 in Baltimore, he completed in 1902 his secondary education at Baltimore City College, and then received in 1905 his A.B. degree from Johns Hopkins University. After completing two years of graduate study at Johns Hopkins University, he became in 1907 an instructor and continuing graduate student in mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. There he received in 1913, with supervisor Mellen W. Haskell, his Ph.D.[3] At Berkeley, Bernstein became in 1918 an assistant professor, in 1923 an associate professor, and in 1928 a full professor of mathematics, retiring in 1951 as professor emeritus.[1]

When Professor Bernstein began his studies in mathematics, the subject of algebra of logic, or mathematical logic, was just beginning to receive intensive scholarly study, mainly from philosophers. Along with E. V. Huntington of Harvard, Professor Bernstein was a pioneer in this field from the mathematical point of view. ... During this early period in the history of mathematical logic, a notable event for the subject was the publication of Principia Mathematica, by Whitehead and Russell. Professor Bernstein was an intensive and critical student of this Principia and discussed it in many papers.[1]

He was an Invited Speaker at the ICM in 1924 in Toronto.[4] He was elected in 1931 a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[5] His doctoral students include Robert Levit[3][6] and J.C.C. McKinsey.

In June 1920 in New York City, Professor Bernstein married Rose Davidson; her brother was the sculptor Jo Davidson. Bernstein was predeceased by his wife and upon his death was survived by a daughter and a granddaughter.[1]

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Benjamin Abram Bernstein, University of California: In Memoriam, April 1965
  2. ↑ Runes, Dagobert D. (1951). The Hebrew Impact on Western Civilization. New York: Philosophical Library. ISBN 978-1-5040-1296-6.
  3. 1 2 Benjamin Abram Bernstein at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  4. ↑ Bernstein, B. A. "Modular representations of finite algebras." Archived 2016-09-24 at the Wayback Machine In Proc. 7th Int. Cong. Math, vol. 1, pp. 207-216. 1924.
  5. ↑ "Historic Fellows". American Association for the Advancement of Science.
  6. ↑ Robert Levit Obituary, San Francisco Chronicle, 30 May 2010
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