# Gordon Whyburn
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{{short description|American mathematician}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2013}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name = Gordon Thomas Whyburn
|image =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1904|01|07|mf=yes}}
|birth_place = [Lewisville, Texas](/source/Lewisville%2C_Texas)
|death_date = {{death date and age|1969|09|08|1904|1|7|mf=yes}}
|death_place = [Charlottesville, Virginia](/source/Charlottesville%2C_Virginia)
|residence =
|citizenship =
|field = [Mathematician](/source/Mathematician)
|doctoral_advisor = [R. L. Moore](/source/Robert_Lee_Moore)
|doctoral_students = {{plainlist|1=
*[Beatrice Aitchison](/source/Beatrice_Aitchison)
*[Edwin E. Floyd](/source/Edwin_E._Floyd)
*[M. K. Fort, Jr.](/source/M._K._Fort%2C_Jr.)
*[John L. Kelley](/source/John_L._Kelley)
*[Alexander Doniphan Wallace](/source/Alexander_Doniphan_Wallace)
}}
|known_for = [Topology](/source/Topology)
|influences =
|influenced =
|prizes = [Chauvenet Prize](/source/Chauvenet_Prize) (1938)
}}
'''Gordon Thomas Whyburn''' (January 7, 1904, [Lewisville, Texas](/source/Lewisville%2C_Texas) – September 8, 1969, [Charlottesville, Virginia](/source/Charlottesville%2C_Virginia)) was an [American](/source/Americans) [mathematician](/source/mathematician) who worked on [topology](/source/topology).[{{Citation | last1=Floyd | first1=E. E. | authorlink=Edwin E. Floyd|last2=Jones | first2=F. B. | authorlink2=F. Burton Jones | title=Gordon T. Whyburn 1904–1969 | doi=10.1090/S0002-9904-1971-12606-X |mr=0266736 | year=1971 | journal=[Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society](/source/Bulletin_of_the_American_Mathematical_Society) | issn=0002-9904 | volume=77 | pages=57–72| doi-access=free }}]
Whyburn studied at the [University of Texas, Austin](/source/University_of_Texas%2C_Austin), where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1925. Under the influence of his teacher [Robert Lee Moore](/source/Robert_Lee_Moore), Whyburn continued to study at Austin but changed to mathematics and earned a master's degree in mathematics in 1926 and then a PhD in 1927. After two years as an adjunct professor at U. of Texas, with the aid of a [Guggenheim fellowship](/source/Guggenheim_fellowship) Whyburn spent the academic year 1929/1930 in [Vienna](/source/Vienna) with [Hans Hahn](/source/Hans_Hahn_(mathematician)) and in [Warsaw](/source/Warsaw) with [Kuratowski](/source/Kazimierz_Kuratowski) and [Sierpinski](/source/Wac%C5%82aw_Sierpi%C5%84ski). After the fellowship expired, Whyburn became a professor at [Johns Hopkins University](/source/Johns_Hopkins_University).
From 1934, he was a professor at the [University of Virginia](/source/University_of_Virginia), where he modernized the mathematics department and spent the rest of his career. He was chair of the department until his first heart attack in 1966; [Edward J. McShane](/source/Edward_J._McShane) joined the department in 1935, and [Gustav A. Hedlund](/source/Gustav_A._Hedlund) was a member of the department from 1939 to 1948. In the academic year 1952/1953 Whyburn was a visiting professor at [Stanford University](/source/Stanford_University). In 1953–54, he served as president of the [American Mathematical Society](/source/American_Mathematical_Society).
Whyburn was awarded the [Chauvenet Prize](/source/Chauvenet_Prize) in 1938 for his paper "On the Structure of Continua",[{{cite journal|author=Whyburn, G. T.|title=On the Structure of Continua|journal=Bulletin of the AMS|volume=42|year=1936|issue=2 |pages=49–73|doi=10.1090/S0002-9904-1936-06225-7 |url=http://www.maa.org/programs/maa-awards/writing-awards/on-the-structure-of-continua|doi-access=free}}] and was elected a member of the [National Academy of Sciences](/source/National_Academy_of_Sciences) in 1951. His doctoral students include [John L. Kelley](/source/John_L._Kelley) and [Alexander Doniphan Wallace](/source/Alexander_Doniphan_Wallace).[{{MathGenealogy|id=293}}]
His brother [William Marvin Whyburn](/source/William_Whyburn) (1901–1972) was a mathematics professor at [UCLA](/source/University_of_California%2C_Los_Angeles) and became known for his work on ordinary differential equations.[{{cite journal|author=Reid, W. T.|title=William M. Whyburn 1901-1972|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|year=1973|volume=79|issue=6|pages=1175–1183|url=https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1973-79-06/S0002-9904-1973-13369-5/|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1973-13369-5|doi-access=free}}]
==Publications==
*{{Citation | last1=Whyburn | first1=Gordon Thomas | title=Analytic Topology | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=niByQPkPObwC | publisher=[American Mathematical Society](/source/American_Mathematical_Society) | location=Providence, R.I. | series=American Mathematical Society Colloquium Publications | isbn=978-0-8218-1028-6 |mr=0007095 | year=1942 | volume=28}}
*{{Citation | last1=Whyburn | first1=Gordon Thomas | title=Topological analysis | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OG6zAAAAIAAJ | publisher=[Princeton University Press](/source/Princeton_University_Press) | series=Princeton Mathematical Series | isbn=978-0-691-08054-3 |mr=0099642 | year=1958 | volume=23}}
*{{Citation | last1=Whyburn | first1=Gordon | last2=Duda | first2=Edwin | title=Dynamic topology | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b0EZAQAAIAAJ | publisher=[Springer-Verlag](/source/Springer-Verlag) | location=Berlin, New York | series=[Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics](/source/Undergraduate_Texts_in_Mathematics) | isbn=978-0-387-90358-3 |mr=526764 | year=1979}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{MacTutor|id=Whyburn}}
*{{MathGenealogy|id=293}}
{{Chauvenet Prize recipients}}
{{AMS Presidents|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whyburn, Gordon}}
Category:20th-century American mathematicians
Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Category:Presidents of the American Mathematical Society
Category:American topologists
Category:University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences alumni
Category:University of Virginia faculty
Category:1904 births
Category:1969 deaths
Category:Mathematicians from Texas
Category:People from Lewisville, Texas
Category:Burials at the University of Virginia Cemetery
---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gordon Whyburn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Whyburn) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Whyburn?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.