Francis Dominic Murnaghan (August 4, 1893 – March 24, 1976) was an Irish mathematician and former head of the mathematics department at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...

. His name is attached to developments in

group theory In abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as group (mathematics), groups. The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as ring (mathematics), rings, field ...

and mathematics applied to

continuum mechanics Continuum mechanics is a branch of mechanics that deals with the mechanical behavior of materials modeled as a continuous mass rather than as discrete particles. The French mathematician Augustin-Louis Cauchy was the first to formulate such ...

( Murnaghan and Birch–Murnaghan equations of state).

Biography

Frank Murnaghan was born in

Omagh Omagh (; from ga, An Ómaigh , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. Northern Ireland's capital city Belfast is 68 m ...

Co. Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retains ...

, Ireland, seventh of the nine children of George Murnaghan, a

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

MP representing Mid Tyrone constituency. He graduated from

Irish Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers ( la, Congregatio Fratrum Christianorum; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. Their first school was opened in Waterford, Irelan ...

secondary school in 1910, and

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

with first-class honours BSc in Mathematical Sciences in 1913. Following an MSc in 1914, he was awarded a

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universit ...

(NUI) Travelling Studentship, which funded him to pursue his doctorate at

. In 1916, after just two years working under department chair

Frank Morley Frank Morley (September 9, 1860 – October 17, 1937) was a leading mathematician, known mostly for his teaching and research in the fields of algebra and geometry. Among his mathematical accomplishments was the discovery and proof of the cele ...

's new PhD student

Harry Bateman Harry Bateman FRS (29 May 1882 – 21 January 1946) was an English mathematician with a specialty in differential equations of mathematical physics. With Ebenezer Cunningham, he expanded the views of spacetime symmetry of Lorentz and Poin ...

, he was awarded the Ph.D. He then lectured at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universit ...

, and returned to Johns Hopkins University with the rank of associate professor at the young age of 25. In 1928 he was promoted to Professor and became only the fourth head of the Department of Mathematics (after

J.J. Sylvester James Joseph Sylvester (3 September 1814 – 15 March 1897) was an English mathematician. He made fundamental contributions to matrix theory, invariant theory, number theory, partition theory, and combinatorics. He played a leadersh ...

Simon Newcomb Simon Newcomb (March 12, 1835 – July 11, 1909) was a Canadian– American astronomer, applied mathematician, and autodidactic polymath. He served as Professor of Mathematics in the United States Navy and at Johns Hopkins University. Born in ...

and Frank Morley). After his retirement in 1949, he worked at the

Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica The ''Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica'' (ITA; en, Aeronautics Institute of Technology) is an institution of higher education maintained by the Brazilian Air Force and is located in São José dos Campos, Brazil. ITA is consistently ran ...

near

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

Brasil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area an ...

, but returned to Baltimore in 1959. He continued working as a consultant for the Marine Engineering Laboratory; his last publication appeared in 1972. Murnaghan was a member of

US National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communi ...

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier learned society and one its leading cultural i ...

, and

Brazilian Academy of Sciences The Brazilian Academy of Sciences ( pt, italic=yes, Academia Brasileira de Ciências or ''ABC'') is the national academy of Brazil. It is headquartered in the city of Rio de Janeiro and was founded on May 3, 1916. Publications It publishes a lar ...

. He wrote 15 books, some in English and some in Portuguese, and over 90 papers. He was the father of

Francis Dominic Murnaghan, Jr. Francis Dominic Murnaghan Jr. (June 20, 1920 – August 31, 2000) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Education and career Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Murnaghan received an Artium B ...

, former U.S. federal judge and uncle of Northern Irish barrister and politician

Sheelagh Murnaghan Sheelagh Mary Murnaghan, (26 May 1924 – 14 September 1993) was an Ulster Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland at Stormont. Early life Sheelagh Mary Murnaghan was born on 24 May 1924 to Josep ...

Selected publications

* * * *

References

External links

* * * R.T. Cox, Francis Dominic Murnaghan (1893-1976), ''Year Book of the American Philosophical Society'' (1976), 109–114. {{DEFAULTSORT:Murnaghan, Francis Dominic 1893 births 1976 deaths People from County Tyrone Irish mathematicians Group theorists 20th-century American mathematicians Alumni of University College Dublin Johns Hopkins University faculty Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) 20th-century Irish people 19th-century Irish people Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Irish Academy Fellows of the American Physical Society

Biography

Selected publications

See also

References

External links