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{{short description|American mathematician}}
[[File:Ronald G. Douglas.jpg|thumb|220px|Ronald G. Douglas]]
{{Infobox academic
'''Ronald George Douglas''' (born December 10, 1938) is an [[United States|American]] [[mathematician]], best known for his work on [[operator algebras]].
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| name = Ronald George Douglas
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| image = Ronald G. Douglas.jpg
| alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption =
| birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date = {{birth date|1938|12|10}}
| birth_place = [[Osgood, Indiana]], USA
| death_date = {{death date_and_age|2018|2|27 |1938|12|10}}
| death_place = [[College Station, Texas]], USA<ref>{{Cite web |last=Home |first=Bryant Funeral |title=Tribute for Ronald George Douglas {{!}} Bryant Funeral Home |url=https://www.bryantfh.com/tributes/Ronald-Douglas |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=Tribute for Ronald George Douglas {{!}} Bryant Funeral Home |language=en}}</ref>
| nationality = American
| other_names =
| occupation = Mathematician
| known_for = Douglas-Arveson conjecture<br>[[Douglas' lemma]]
| doctoral_advisor = Pasquale Porcelli
| doctoral_students = [[Paul Muhly]]<br>[[Guoliang Yu]]<br>[[Gadadhar Misra]]
| education = [[Illinois Institute of Technology]]<br>[[Louisiana State University]]
| workplaces = [[University of Michigan]]<br>[[Stony Brook University]]<br>[[Texas A&M University]]
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}}


'''Ronald George Douglas''' (December 10, 1938 – February 27, 2018) was an American [[mathematician]], best known for his work on [[operator theory]] and [[operator algebras]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.science.tamu.edu/news/story.php?story_ID=1943#.WqG2RoJG2EJ |title=Texas A&M Mourns Loss of Distinguished Mathematician and Former Provost Ron Douglas |date=2 March 2018 |website=College of Science Communications, Texas A&M |access-date=2018-03-08}}</ref>
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Douglas was born in [[Osgood, Indiana]]. He was an undergraduate at the [[Illinois Institute of Technology]], and received his [[Ph.D.]] in 1962 from [[Louisiana State University]] as a student of Pasquale Porcelli. He was at the [[University of Michigan]] until 1969, when he moved to the [[Stony Brook University|State University of New York at Stony Brook]]. Beginning in 1986 he moved into university administration, eventually becoming Vice Provost at Stony Brook in 1990, and Provost at [[Texas A&M University]] from 1996 until 2002. Currently he is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Texas A&M. He has three children, including [[Michael R. Douglas]], a noted [[string theory|string theorist]].


==Education and career==
⚫
Among his best-known contributions to science is a 1977 paper with Lawrence G. Brown and Peter A. Fillmore, which introduced techniques from [[algebraic topology]] into the theory of operator algebras. This work was an important precursor to [[noncommutative geometry]] as later developed by [[Alain Connes]] among others.
⚫
Douglas was born in [[Osgood, Indiana]]. He was an undergraduate at the [[Illinois Institute of Technology]], and received his [[Ph.D.]] in 1962 from [[Louisiana State University]] as a student of Pasquale Porcelli. He was at the [[University of Michigan]] until 1969, when he moved to the [[Stony Brook University|State University of New York at Stony Brook]]. Beginning in 1986 he moved into university administration, eventually becoming Vice [[Provost (education)|Provost]] at Stony Brook in 1990, and Provost at [[Texas A&M University]] from 1996 until 2002. At the time of his death, he was Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Texas A&M. He is survived by three children, including [[Michael R. Douglas]], a noted [[string theory|string theorist]].


==Research==
⚫
In 2012 he became a fellow of the [[American Mathematical Society]].<ref>[http://www.ams.org/profession/fellows-list List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society], retrieved 2012-11-10.</ref>
⚫
Among his best-known contributions to science is a 1977 paper with [[Lawrence G. Brown]] and Peter A. Fillmore (BDF theory), which introduced techniques from [[algebraic topology]] into the theory of operator algebras. This work was an important precursor to [[noncommutative geometry]] as later developed by [[Alain Connes]] among others. In addition to BDF theory, two other influential theories bear his names: Douglas algebra and Cowen-Douglas operators. In recent decades, he was a prominent advocator of multivariable operator theory. His coauthored book with [[Vern Paulsen]] "Hilbert modules over function algebras" introduced an analytic framework for studying commuting operator tuples. Douglas-Arveson conjecture is a well-known unsolved problem in this field.

Douglas directed 23 Ph.D students, some of whom became renowned mathematicians, and his book ''Banach Algebra Techniques in Operator Theory'' in the series [[Graduate Texts in Mathematics]] is one of the classics in [[operator theory]].

==Honors and awards==
⚫
In 2012, he became a fellow of the [[American Mathematical Society]].<ref>[http://www.ams.org/profession/fellows-list List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society]. Retrieved 2012-11-10.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Douglas' lemma]]


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
* Brown, L. G.; Douglas, R. G.; Fillmore, P. A., "Extensions of C*-algebras and K-homology", ''[[Annals of Mathematics]]'' (2) 105 (1977), no. 2, 265&ndash;324. {{MathSciNet|id=0458196}}
* Brown, L. G.; Douglas, R. G.; Fillmore, P. A., "Extensions of C*-algebras and K-homology", ''[[Annals of Mathematics]]'' (2) 105 (1977), no. 2, 265&ndash;324. {{MathSciNet|id=0458196}}


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.math.tamu.edu/~ron.douglas/ Ronald G. Douglas's homepage at Texas A&M.]
*[http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=7629 His page at the Mathematics Genealogy Project]
*[http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=7629 His page at the Mathematics Genealogy Project]


{{Authority control}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->

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| NAME = Douglas, Ronald G.
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = December 10, 1938
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
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}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Ronald G.}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Ronald G.}}
[[Category:20th-century mathematicians]]
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:American mathematicians]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American mathematicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American mathematicians]]
[[Category:Texas A&M University faculty]]
[[Category:Texas A&M University faculty]]
[[Category:University of Michigan faculty]]
[[Category:University of Michigan faculty]]
[[Category:State University of New York at Stony Brook faculty]]
[[Category:Stony Brook University faculty]]
[[Category:Louisiana State University alumni]]
[[Category:Louisiana State University alumni]]
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[[Category:Guggenheim Fellows]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Mathematical Society]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Mathematical Society]]
[[Category:Illinois Institute of Technology alumni]]
[[Category:Illinois Institute of Technology alumni]]
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Ripley County, Indiana]]
[[Category:People from Ripley County, Indiana]]
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[[Category:Operator theorists]]




{{US-mathematician-stub}}
{{US-mathematician-stub}}

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[[de:Ronald G. Douglas]]

Latest revision as of 23:20, 9 October 2022

Ronald George Douglas
Born(1938-12-10)December 10, 1938
Osgood, Indiana, USA
DiedFebruary 27, 2018(2018-02-27) (aged 79)
College Station, Texas, USA[1]
NationalityAmerican
OccupationMathematician
Known forDouglas-Arveson conjecture
Douglas' lemma
Academic background
EducationIllinois Institute of Technology
Louisiana State University
Doctoral advisorPasquale Porcelli
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Michigan
Stony Brook University
Texas A&M University
Doctoral studentsPaul Muhly
Guoliang Yu
Gadadhar Misra

Ronald George Douglas (December 10, 1938 – February 27, 2018) was an American mathematician, best known for his work on operator theory and operator algebras.[2]

Education and career[edit]

Douglas was born in Osgood, Indiana. He was an undergraduate at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and received his Ph.D. in 1962 from Louisiana State University as a student of Pasquale Porcelli. He was at the University of Michigan until 1969, when he moved to the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Beginning in 1986 he moved into university administration, eventually becoming Vice Provost at Stony Brook in 1990, and Provost at Texas A&M University from 1996 until 2002. At the time of his death, he was Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Texas A&M. He is survived by three children, including Michael R. Douglas, a noted string theorist.

Research[edit]

Among his best-known contributions to science is a 1977 paper with Lawrence G. Brown and Peter A. Fillmore (BDF theory), which introduced techniques from algebraic topology into the theory of operator algebras. This work was an important precursor to noncommutative geometry as later developed by Alain Connes among others. In addition to BDF theory, two other influential theories bear his names: Douglas algebra and Cowen-Douglas operators. In recent decades, he was a prominent advocator of multivariable operator theory. His coauthored book with Vern Paulsen "Hilbert modules over function algebras" introduced an analytic framework for studying commuting operator tuples. Douglas-Arveson conjecture is a well-known unsolved problem in this field.

Douglas directed 23 Ph.D students, some of whom became renowned mathematicians, and his book Banach Algebra Techniques in Operator Theory in the series Graduate Texts in Mathematics is one of the classics in operator theory.

Honors and awards[edit]

In 2012, he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.[3]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Home, Bryant Funeral. "Tribute for Ronald George Douglas | Bryant Funeral Home". Tribute for Ronald George Douglas | Bryant Funeral Home. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
  2. ^ "Texas A&M Mourns Loss of Distinguished Mathematician and Former Provost Ron Douglas". College of Science Communications, Texas A&M. 2 March 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  3. ^ List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  • Brown, L. G.; Douglas, R. G.; Fillmore, P. A., "Extensions of C*-algebras and K-homology", Annals of Mathematics (2) 105 (1977), no. 2, 265–324. MR0458196

External links[edit]


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