Hilton"s death

[Andree Ehresmann <andree.ehresmann@u-picardie.fr>]

Jean Pedersen has just informed me of the death of Peter Hilton.  
Hereafter is part of an obituary notice in a Binghampton paper.
We knew well Peter since Charles had invited Peter in Strasbourg while  
he was still a young student, and later he visited us several times in  
Paris and later in Amiens
Andree


Peter Hilton, 87, Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Binghamton  
Unïversity, died on Saturday, November 6, 2010. He is survived by his  
wife Margaret, sons and daughter-in-law, Nicholas Hilton, Binghamton  
and Timothy and Catherine Hilton, Seattle, Wa., two grandsons, one  
great granddaughter and brother and sister-in-law, Dr. Sydney and Mary  
Hilton, North Wales, U.K.
Peter was born in London, and educated at Oxford University. During  
World War II, at age 18, he was recruited from Oxford, because of his  
mathematical ability and knowledge of German, to work at Bletchley  
Park, the secret British faciiity dedicated to breaking German codes.  
Thïs project was ledby Alan Turing, the celebrated mathematician and  
founder of computer science, with whom the young Peter Hilton worked  
closely. Initially, Peter worked on breaking the Enigma code, and,  
later, on the more refined Fish code. Once the British Official  
Secrets Act was lifted in the 1980's, his lectures about the years at  
Bletchley Park were highly popular at venues all over the world. He  
gave several such lectures at Binghamton University.
After the War Peter obtained his doctorate from Oxford. Peter went on  
to hold academic positions at Cambridge and Manchester Unïversities,  
and a Chair at the University of Birmingham.
In 1962, he moved to the United States where he was Professor of  
Mathematics, first at Cornell, then at the University of Washington  
and the Batteile Institute. He helcl the Louis D, Beaumont Chair at  
Case Western Reserve University for a number of years, ending in 1982  
when he became Distinguished Professor at Binghamton University,  
retiring in 1995.
Peter Hilton was one of the most influential mathematicians of his  
generation. He made major contributions to algebraic topology and  
homological algebra. His influence on these subjects has been  
profound. In his later years he was also a significant figure in  
Mathematics Education, especially in Continental Europe. He published  
hundreds of research articles and many books on mathematics and  
mathematics education, and he lectured at conferences into his  
mid-eighties.




[For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]