Karl W. Gruenberg (3 June 1928 – 10 October 2007) was a British mathematician who specialised 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 ...

, in particular with the

cohomology In mathematics, specifically in homology theory and algebraic topology, cohomology is a general term for a sequence of abelian groups, usually one associated with a topological space, often defined from a cochain complex. Cohomology can be viewe ...

theory of groups.

Education and career

At the age of eleven, Gruenberg was one of the many Jewish children sent from Austria to Great Britain as part of the

Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children (but not their parents) from Nazi-controlled territory that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World ...

in 1939. Most of the Kindertransport children never saw their parents again but Karl was lucky and his mother soon joined him, and they moved to London in 1943 where he entered

Kilburn Grammar School Kilburn Grammar School was an English grammar school which opened in 1898 in Kilburn, north-west London. The school ceased to exist in 1967. History The school's history is detailed in a book by Richard E Brock. It was founded by the Rev. Dr. H ...

. In 1946 he won a scholarship to study mathematics at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he received a BA degree in 1950 (duly upgraded to MA (Cantab.) in 1954. He was appointed as an Assistant Lecturer in Mathematics at

Queen Mary College , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

, London University from 1953 to 1955. He got his PhD in 1954 under

Philip Hall Philip Hall FRS (11 April 1904 – 30 December 1982), was an English mathematician. His major work was on group theory, notably on finite groups and solvable groups. Biography He was educated first at Christ's Hospital, where he won the Thomps ...

at Cambridge with his treatise "A Contribution to the Theory of Commutators in Groups and Associative Rings".
Karl Gruenberg obituary
'

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

, 11 December 2007 He was awarded a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship which made it possible for him to spend 1955–56 at Harvard and then 1956–57 at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...

in Princeton, New Jersey.Karl W. Gruenberg
Institute for Advanced Study: A Community of Scholars In 1948 he became a British citizen. In 1967 he moved back to Queen Mary College where he became a leading figure in the algebra research community and where he remained for the rest of his career. He became a professor in the Department of Pure Mathematics where he worked with

Bertram Huppert Bertram Huppert (born 22 October 1927 in Worms, Germany) is a German mathematician specializing in group theory and the representation theory of finite groups. His ''Endliche Gruppen'' ( finite groups) is an influential textbook in group theory, ...

and

Wolfgang Gaschütz Wolfgang is a German male given name traditionally popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The name is a combination of the Old High German words ''wolf'', meaning "wolf", and ''gang'', meaning "path", "journey", "travel". Besides the regula ...

organising the group theory conferences at the Mathematical Research Institute of Oberwolfach in Germany. He had a son Mark and a daughter Anne by his first wife Katherine. For thirty years he was married to his second wife Margaret.
Professor Karl Gruenberg: Leading light in algebra research
' The Independent, 8 January 2008

Works

;papers *
The Universal Coefficient Theorem in the Cohomology of Groups
' Journal of the London Mathematical Society 27 May 1966 *''Some cohomological notes in group theory'', Queen Mary College Math. Notes, 1968 *''Relation modules of finite groups'', CBMS Regional Conf. Series Math., American Mathematical Society 1976 ;books * 1970
Cohomological topics in group theory
* 1977

' (with A. J. Weir), Springer-Verlag * 1984 Group theory : essays for Philip Hall, J E Roseblade & Philip Hall, London : Academic Press, * 1988

' (with J. E. Roseblade), Clarendon Press, 1988, * 2002 ''Una introduzione all'algebra omologica''

References

External links

* * *
On the occasion of the 65th birthday of Professor K.W. Gruenberg
' by Alan Camina, Ted C. Hurley, Peter H Kropholler, Publisher: Amsterdam, 1993. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gruenberg, Karl Walter Academics of Queen Mary University of London Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge British mathematicians Group theorists 1928 births 2007 deaths Kindertransport refugees People educated at Kilburn Grammar School Harkness Fellows