David Ross Richman
Memorial Page
David Ross Richman (June 26, 1956 - February 1, 1991)
David was born in Montreal and did his early schooling in Vancouver, in
Geneva, and in Manhattan, where he gradua
ted from the
United Nations' International School. He went on to earn his Bachelor's
degree from Harvard and his Ph.D. in Mathematics at the age of 23 from
the University of California at Berkeley. He visited the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and then held a position in our department
at the University of South Carolina from 1982 until his death in 1991.
He spent 1982-1984 on leave at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
David's research interests included abstract algebra, algebraic coding
theory, combinatorics, game theory, inequalities, invariant theory, the
Jacobian Problem, linear algebra, number theory, the theory of equations,
and Waring's Problem. He did not like labelling himself as a certain type
of mathematician. He was not simply an algebraist, nor simply a combinatorist,
nor simply a number theorist. The mathematics that he did at any given
moment was the mathematics that he felt most passionate about at the time.
It could be anything from a game or an inequal
ity to invariant
theory or the Jacobian Problem. Asking him or anyone to name his or her
main area of interest was equated in David's mind with suggesting to the
person that he or she should specialize. He knew, in reality, that it is
difficult if not impossible to increase the breadth of one's knowledge
by narrowing the extent of one's interests.
On Febuary 1st, 1991, a USAir plane carrying over 100 passengers
was directed to land in Los Angeles at the same time that another smaller
commuter plane was directed on the runway. David, age 34, was a passenger
on the USAir plane. He and others died from inhaling toxic fumes while
apparently walking toward an exit in the plane; his body was found within
one row of an exit door. Those who remember him include Shu-mei, his wife
who was pregnant with David Harry, born April 30, 1991; David and Shu-mei's
daughter Miriam who was age one at the time of the accident; David's parents
Alex and Shifra who have since been making strong efforts to change safety
regulations for airlines; David's sister Janice and her husband and children
(one Davina, born Febuary 17th, 1991); David's brothers Elliot and Vincent;
and David's many colleagues and friends.
I was one of David's colleagues and friends. At the time of the accident, he was in fact my closest friend. This page is dedicated to him and all those who loved him.
| - Michael Filaseta |
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