Richard K. Lashof was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 mathematician

Mathematician

A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....

. He contributed to the field of geometric

Geometric topology

In mathematics, geometric topology is the study of manifolds and maps between them, particularly embeddings of one manifold into another.- Topics :...

 and differential topology

Differential topology

In mathematics, differential topology is the field dealing with differentiable functions on differentiable manifolds. It is closely related to differential geometry and together they make up the geometric theory of differentiable manifolds.- Description :...

, working with Shiing-Shen Chern

Shiing-Shen Chern

Shiing-Shen Chern was a Chinese American mathematician, one of the leaders in differential geometry of the twentieth century.-Early years in China:...

, Stephen Smale

Stephen Smale

Steven Smale a.k.a. Steve Smale, Stephen Smale is an American mathematician from Flint, Michigan. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1966, and spent more than three decades on the mathematics faculty of the University of California, Berkeley .-Education and career:He entered the University of...

, among others. Lashof is regarded as "the key figure in sustaining the Chicago Mathematics Department as an international center for research and the training of topologists" by Melvin Rothenberg.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, Lashof earned a Bachelor of Science

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 in 1943, then served as a communications officer in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 from 1943 to 1946. He earned his doctoral degree in mathematics from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 in 1954, under supervision of Richard Vincent Kadison.

His wife, Joyce Lashof, was awarded the Sedgwick Memorial Medal

Sedgwick Memorial Medal

The Sedgwick Memorial Medal, given by the American Public Health Association, was established in 1929 for distinguished service and advancement of public health knowledge and practice. It is considered the APHA's highest honor....

 in 1995.

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