Robert "Bob" McCallum Blumenthal (7 February 1931, Chicago – 8 November 2012) was an American mathematician, specializing in probability theory. He is known for Blumenthal's zero-one law.

Biography

He received his Ph.D. in mathematics from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1956 under

Gilbert Hunt Gilbert Agnew Hunt, Jr. (March 4, 1916 – May 30, 2008) was an American mathematician and amateur tennis player active in the 1930s and 1940s. Early life and education Hunt was born in Washington, D.C. and attended Eastern High School (Washing ...

with thesis ''An Extended Markov Property''. Blumenthal became in 1956 an instructor at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, was eventually promoted to full professor, and in 1997 retired there. He was on sabbatical for the academic year 1961–1962 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 scholar ...

in Princeton and for the academic year 1966–1967 in Germany. Upon his death he was survived by his wife and two sons.

Selected publications

Articles

* *with R. K. Getoor: *with R. K. Getoor: *with R. K. Getoor and D. B. Ray: *with R. K. Getoor: *with R. K. Getoor:

Books

*with R. K. Getoor: *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blumenthal, Robert McCallum 1931 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians American probability theorists Cornell University alumni University of Washington faculty