George Leitmann (born May 24, 1925) is an Austrian-born American engineering scientist and educator.
Early life and education
Leitmann was born on May 24, 1925, to a fully assimilated Jewish family in
Vienna, Austria
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. His paternal grandfather was a career officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Imperial Army. His father had been a volunteer in the Austrian Army in World War I and was wounded twice on the Serbian front.
Nonetheless, by the spring of 1940 the situation in Austria had become so dangerous that George's father fled to neighboring Yugoslavia, still an independent kingdom, and the rest of the family, George, his mother and two grandmothers, were able to emigrate to the US in April 1940. Tragically, Yugoslavia was occupied by Germany a year later and George's father was murdered in a
concentration camp in Nis, Serbia.
George attended a Technical High School in New York from which he graduated in December 1943, whereupon he immediately volunteered for the Army and was inducted in February 1944 into a Combat Engineer Battalion, which began its combat duties in France and Germany in late 1944. During
the battle of the Colmar Pocket, George's unit was attached to the
French First Army
The First Army (french: 1re Armée) was a field army of France that fought during World War I and World War II. It was also active during the Cold War.
First World War
On mobilization in August 1914, General Auguste Dubail was put in the ...
which liberated Colmar. For George's performance in this action as a member of the reconnaissance unit, he was awarded
the Croix de Guerre avec Palme.
After the end of the war in Europe, George was transferred to the Army Counter Intelligence Corps as its youngest Special Agent and, among other assignments, served as an interrogator at the
Nuremberg War Crimes Trial. In 1955, he married Nancy Lloyd. They have two children, son Josef, and daughter Elaine, as well as three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Academic career
After the discharge from the army in May 1946, George studied physics at Columbia University and received the BA and MS degrees in 1949 and 1950, respectively. From 1950 to 1957 he was employed at the US Naval Ordnance Station (USNOTS), China Lake, California, first as a physicist and then head of the aeroballistics analysis section. This assignment involved both theoretical as well as experimental research in the exterior ballistics of rockets. While working at USNOTS, he also enrolled in the PhD program of the University of California, Berkeley, from which he received the PhD in engineering science in 1956. He joined the engineering faculty at UC Berkeley in 1957 as an assistant professor, and was advanced to associate professor in 1959 and professor in 1963. He was emerited in 1991 and continued both research and university service until 2018.
Research contributions and academic services
George contributed greatly to the theory of
optimal control
Optimal control theory is a branch of mathematical optimization that deals with finding a control for a dynamical system over a period of time such that an objective function is optimized. It has numerous applications in science, engineering and ...
, dynamic games, and
operations research
Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve deci ...
, as well as applications to exterior ballistics of rockets, aerospace systems, economics,
ecology
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
,
epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...
,
counterterrorism
Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that Government, governments, law enforcement, business, and Intelligence agency, intellig ...
, and others, reported in 15 books (including ''An Introduction to Optimal Control'', ''The Calculus of Variations and Optimal Control'', ''Qualitative and Quantitative Differential Games'', and ''Cooperative and Non-cooperative Many Player Games'') and over 300 technical journal articles.
His service to the academic community, especially the University of California, Berkeley, ranged from four Associate Deanships, Academic Senate Committee Service such as the Budget Committee, chair of the Committee on Privilege and Tenure, the first University Ombudsman during the riot-ridden late sixties, and many advisory committees such as the chair of the system-wide Advisory Committee on Research Expeditions Programs. He also served the wider academic community by service on advisory boards at other universities.
Professional services
George has held membership in many professional and government committees. He was the Founding President of the American Alexander von Humboldt Association (1994–1997). He was Co-Editor of
the Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications for 16 years and serves/ed as associate editor of four journals and editorial board member of eight journals.
Honors and awards
The following constitutes a partial list. He is a member of the US
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...
and a Foreign or Corresponding Member of six other national Academies of Science or Engineering. He holds honorary doctorates from three universities (
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
,
Technical University of Vienna
TU Wien (TUW; german: Technische Universität Wien; still known in English as the Vienna University of Technology from 1975–2014) is one of the major universities in Vienna, Austria. The university finds high international and domestic recogn ...
, and
Technical University of Darmstadt
Technical may refer to:
* Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle
* Technical analysis, a discipline for forecasting the future direction of prices through the study of past market data
* Technical drawing, showing how something is co ...
). His numerous prizes and medals include: the Senior Scientist Prize, Heisenberg and Humboldt Medals of the
Humboldt Foundation
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (german: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung) is a foundation established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Resear ...
, the
Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art
The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system.
History
The "Austrian D ...
, the Levy Medal of the
Franklin Institute
The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...
, the Oldenburger Medal of the
ASME
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...
, the first Isaacs Award (shared with Professor Y. C. Ho) of the
International Society of Dynamic Games
The International Society of Dynamic Games (ISDG) is an international non-profit, professional organization for the advancement of the theory of dynamic games.
History
The ISDG was founded on August 9, 1990 in Helsinki, Finland, at the site of t ...
, and the Bellman Control Heritage Award of the
American Automatic Control Council
The American Automatic Control Council (AACC) is an organization founded in 1957 for research in control theory. AACC is a member of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) and is an association of the control systems divisions of ...
. He is a Commander of the German and Italian Orders of Merit. In 2013 he became Chevalier de
la Légion d'honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honor)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leitmann, George
1925 births
Living people
Control theorists
UC Berkeley College of Engineering faculty
Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering
Richard E. Bellman Control Heritage Award recipients
UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni
Columbia College (New York) alumni
20th-century American engineers
21st-century American engineers
Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni