Samuel L. Greitzer

{{Short description|American mathematician (1905–1988)}} thumb|Samuel Greitzer '''Samuel L. Greitzer''' (August 10, 1905 – February 22, 1988) was an American mathematician, the founding chairman of the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad, and the publisher of the precollege mathematics journal ''Arbelos''.<ref name=obit/> Together with H.S.M. Coxeter in 1967, Greitzer coauthored the well-received textbook ''Geometry Revisited'', which has remained in print for more than 40 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maa.org/node/109133 |title=MAA Review: Geometry Revisited |first=P.N. |last=Ruane |year=2008}}</ref>

==Biography== Born in the Russian Empire, Greitzer moved to the United States in 1906, graduated from Stuyvesant High School, received his bachelor's degree in 1927 from City College of New York, and later earned a Ph.D. from Yeshiva University. He held academic positions at Yeshiva University, Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, Columbia University, and Rutgers University.<ref name=obit/> In the 1960s and 1970s, he directed a National Science Foundation summer program at Rutgers for high-ability high-school math students.

Samuel Greitzer and his wife Ethel had one son.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ancestry.com/1940-census/usa/New-York/Samuel-Greitzer_6q34z |title=Samuel Greitzer in the 1940 Census |website=Ancestry.com |accessdate=May 23, 2016}}</ref> Samuel died on February 22, 1988, in Metuchen, New Jersey.<ref name=obit>{{cite journal |title=Obituary: Samuel L Greitzer |url=http://www.amt.edu.au/obitgreitzer.html |first1=G. |last1=Berzsenyi |first2=W. |last2=Mientka |journal=Mathematics Competitions |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=29 |year=1988 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204082356/http://www.amt.edu.au/obitgreitzer.html |archivedate=2014-02-04 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10002/us-social-security-death-index-ssdi?itemId=20314214&action=showRecord |title=Social Security Death Index |accessdate=May 21, 2016}}</ref>

==Selected publications== * {{cite book |title=Geometry Revisited |first1=H.S.M. |last1=Coxeter |first2=S.L. |last2=Greitzer |publisher=Mathematical Association of America |year=1967 |isbn=978-0-88385-619-2 |url=http://www.maa.org/node/109133}} * {{cite journal |last=Greitzer |first=S. |title=The First U.S.A. Mathematical Olympiad |journal=American Mathematical Monthly |volume=80 |number=3 |pages=276–281 |year=1973 |doi=10.2307/2318449 |jstor=2318449}} * {{cite book |title=International Mathematical Olympiads 1959–1977 |first=Samuel |last=Greitzer |publisher=Mathematical Association of America |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-88385-627-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/internationalmat1959grei_1977 |url-access=registration }}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{cite journal |url=http://www.maa.org/publications/periodicals/convergence/dear-professor-greitzer-sam-greitzer |title=Dear Professor Greitzer |first1=Joe |last1=Richards |first2=Don |last2=Crossfield |journal=Convergence |publisher=Mathematical Association of America |year=2008}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greitzer, Samuel L.}} Category:1905 births Category:1988 deaths Category:20th-century American mathematicians Category:American geometers Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Category:City College of New York alumni Category:Yeshiva University alumni Category:Stuyvesant High School alumni Category:People from Metuchen, New Jersey Category:Yeshiva University faculty Category:Columbia University faculty Category:Rutgers University faculty Category:Polytechnic Institute of New York University faculty Category:Mathematicians from New York (state)