Thomas Joseph Osler (born 1940) is an American mathematician, former national champion

distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

, and author.

Early life and educationr

Born in 1940 in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

, Osler graduated from Camden High School in 1957 and then studied physics at

Drexel University Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...

, graduating in 1962. He completed his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

at the

Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (commonly known as Courant or CIMS) is the mathematics research school of New York University (NYU), and is among the most prestigious mathematics schools and mathematical sciences research cente ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, in 1970. His dissertation, ''Leibniz Rule, the Chain Rule, and Taylor's Theorem for Fractional Derivatives'', was supervised by Samuel Karp.

Career

Osler taught at

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a private Jesuit university in Philadelphia and Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851 as Saint Joseph's College. Saint Joseph's is the seventh olde ...

and the

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

before joining the mathematics department at

Rowan University Rowan University is a public research university in Glassboro, New Jersey, with a medical campus in Stratford and medical and academic campuses in Camden. It was founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a site donated by 107 residents. ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in 1972; he is a full professor at Rowan University. In mathematics, Osler is best known for his work on

fractional calculus Fractional calculus is a branch of mathematical analysis that studies the several different possibilities of defining real number powers or complex number powers of the differentiation operator D :D f(x) = \frac f(x)\,, and of the integration ...

. He also gave a series of product formulas for

\pi

that interpolate between the formula of Viète and that of Wallis. In 2009, the New Jersey Section of the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure a ...

gave him their Distinguished Teaching Award. A mathematics conference was held at Rowan University in honor of his 70th birthday in 2010.

Running

Osler has won three national

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

championships at 25 km (1965), 30 km and 50 mi (1967). Osler won the 1965

Philadelphia Marathon The Philadelphia Marathon (aka the Philadelphia Independence Marathon) is an annual marathon sporting event held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the third Sunday of November each year since 1954. The Philadelphia Marathon ranks among the top te ...

, finishing the race in freezing-cold weather in a time of 2:34:07. In the course of his career he has won races of nearly every length from one mile to 100 miles. Tom Osler at Fort Meade 50 mile track race (August 9 1975), later in race (solo profile shot)

Tom Osler at Fort Meade 50 mile track race (August 9 1975), later in race (solo profile shot)

Osler was involved in the creation of the

Road Runners Club of America Founded in 1958, the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) is the oldest and largest distance running organization in the United States with over 1,500 running club and event members representing 200,000 individual runners active in their running c ...

with Olympian

Browning Ross Harris Browning 'Brownie' Ross (April 26, 1924 – April 27, 1998) is often referred to as the father of long-distance running in the United States.Road Runners Club of Woodbury: George Benjamin, Jr. & H. Browning Ross Memorial 5K Run & Walk'' 2 ...

; together they were elected as co-secretaries in 1959 and were among the four first official elected officers of the newly formed club. He served on the Amateur Athletic Union Standards Committee in 1979. He has been credited with helping to popularize the idea of walk breaks among US

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

runners. In 1980, Osler was inducted into the

Hall of fame.

Running publications

Osler is the author of several books and booklets on running: *''Guide to Long Distance Running'' (a 20-page booklet coauthored with Edward Dodd) was published in 1965 by the South Jersey Track Club. *''The Conditioning of Distance Runners'' (a 29-page booklet) was published in 1967 by the '' Long Distance Log''. It was reprinted in 1984–1985 in ''

Runner's World ''Runner's World'' is a globally circulated monthly magazine for runners of all skills sets, published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Before its acquisition by Hearst, it was founded and published by Rodale, Inc. in E ...

'' magazine and reprinted with a new foreword by

Amby Burfoot Ambrose Joel "Amby" Burfoot (born August 19, 1946) is a former American marathoner whose peak competitive years came in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was the winner of the 1968 Boston Marathon. After retiring from competition, he became a ru ...

in 2019. *''Serious Runner's Handbook: Answers to Hundreds of your Running Questions'' (187 pages) was published by World Publications in 1978. *''Ultramarathoning: The Next Challenge'' (299 pages, coauthored with Edward Dodd) was also published by World Publications, in 1979. See also

Personal

Osler has been a resident of

Glassboro, New Jersey Glassboro is a borough in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the borough's population was 18,579,Living people 1940 births 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Camden High School (New Jersey) alumni Drexel University alumni Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences alumni People from Glassboro, New Jersey Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute faculty Rowan University faculty Saint Joseph's University faculty Sportspeople from Camden, New Jersey Track and field athletes from New Jersey