John E. Osborn (mathematician)

John E. Osborn (July 12, 1936 – May 30, 2011)[1] was an American mathematician. He obtained B.S. (1958), M.S. (1963), and Ph.D. (1965) degrees at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. His Ph.D. adviser was Hans Weinberger. Osborn made fundamental contributions to computational mathematics, especially to the theory of numerical solution of partial differential equations, eigenvalue approximations, and the finite element method. He also co-authored several textbooks on differential equations and numerical computation with the goal of introducing computation into sophomore level differential equations courses.

John Edward Osborn
John Osborn in April 2009
Born(1936-07-12)July 12, 1936
Onamia, Minnesota, United States
DiedMay 30, 2011(2011-05-30) (aged 74)
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota, Minneapolis
Known forComputational mathematics
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
Doctoral advisorHans Weinberger

Osborn held a faculty position at the University of Maryland, College Park his entire career, from 1965 until retiring in 2008. By 1975 he was a full professor, and took on the role of Mathematics Chair in 1982–1985. He served as acting or interim dean for two years, 1989–90 and 1998–99. He also held many visiting positions worldwide.

He was a frequent collaborator and coauthor of Ivo Babuška.

The Memorial Service for Osborn took place at the University of Maryland's Memorial Chapel on September 21, 2011.

John E. Osborn supervised four PhD students.[2]

Notes

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  1. ^ Nochetto, Ricardo; O'Leary, Dianne (June 13, 2011). "John Osborn, 1936–2011". NA Digest. Vol. 11, no. 24.
  2. ^ John E. Osborn at the Mathematics Genealogy Project

Selected references

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