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Ivor Etherington
Times obituary
Professor Ivor Etherington, mathematician, died on January 1, aged 85. He was born in Lewisham on February 8, 1908.
Ivor Etherington was a mathematician of remarkable originality and ingenuity. In order to solve a particular problem in population genetics, he introduced the notion of genetic algebras, a felicitous blend of abstract algebra and insight into the laws of inheritance.
He developed the new topic in numerous research papers that inspired students and colleagues in many parts of the world. Etherington's genetic algebras continue to be an interesting topic of investigation.
Ivor Etherington was educated at Mill Hill School, from where he went to Hertford College, Oxford, graduating in mathematics in 1930. His academic career was almost entirely based in Edinburgh. He obtained his PhD in 1933 under E. T. Whittaker for some work on general relativity before turning his attention to algebra. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1934 and won its prestigious Keith Prize in 1958.
He was awarded the degree of DSc in 1941. During the year 1967-68 he held the post of Visiting Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Etherington's outstanding services to the University of Edinburgh were greatly appreciated. He was a devoted and well-liked teacher. In addition, he carried an unusually heavy burden of administrative duties, which he discharged with astonishing efficiency. But his most characteristic quality was his readiness and ability to listen to friends or pupils and to offer advice and help when they approached him about any problem, whether mathematical or personal.
After several promotions at Edinburgh, Etherington was appointed to a personal Chair in Mathematics (Algebra) in 1972, from which he retired in 1974.
Though his academic career was distinguished, it reflects only one part of his remarkable personality. He was a man of the highest humanity and kindness, attitudes that were shared by his wife Betty, whom he had married in 1934.
During the troubled years before and during the war, Ivor and Betty Etherington extended generous hospitality to a large number of refugees from Nazi persecution who sought to build new lives. In some cases, they had facilitated their escape and thereby saved their lives.
After his retirement, the Etheringtons went to live at the pretty village of Easdale near Oban on the west coast of Scotland. His wife died in 1982, and he is survived by two daughters.
Professor Ivor Etherington, mathematician, died on January 1, aged 85. He was born in Lewisham on February 8, 1908.
Ivor Etherington was a mathematician of remarkable originality and ingenuity. In order to solve a particular problem in population genetics, he introduced the notion of genetic algebras, a felicitous blend of abstract algebra and insight into the laws of inheritance.
He developed the new topic in numerous research papers that inspired students and colleagues in many parts of the world. Etherington's genetic algebras continue to be an interesting topic of investigation.
Ivor Etherington was educated at Mill Hill School, from where he went to Hertford College, Oxford, graduating in mathematics in 1930. His academic career was almost entirely based in Edinburgh. He obtained his PhD in 1933 under E. T. Whittaker for some work on general relativity before turning his attention to algebra. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1934 and won its prestigious Keith Prize in 1958.
He was awarded the degree of DSc in 1941. During the year 1967-68 he held the post of Visiting Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Etherington's outstanding services to the University of Edinburgh were greatly appreciated. He was a devoted and well-liked teacher. In addition, he carried an unusually heavy burden of administrative duties, which he discharged with astonishing efficiency. But his most characteristic quality was his readiness and ability to listen to friends or pupils and to offer advice and help when they approached him about any problem, whether mathematical or personal.
After several promotions at Edinburgh, Etherington was appointed to a personal Chair in Mathematics (Algebra) in 1972, from which he retired in 1974.
Though his academic career was distinguished, it reflects only one part of his remarkable personality. He was a man of the highest humanity and kindness, attitudes that were shared by his wife Betty, whom he had married in 1934.
During the troubled years before and during the war, Ivor and Betty Etherington extended generous hospitality to a large number of refugees from Nazi persecution who sought to build new lives. In some cases, they had facilitated their escape and thereby saved their lives.
After his retirement, the Etheringtons went to live at the pretty village of Easdale near Oban on the west coast of Scotland. His wife died in 1982, and he is survived by two daughters.
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