José Adem (27 October 1921 – 14 February 1991) was a Mexican mathematician who worked in

algebraic topology Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics that uses tools from abstract algebra to study topological spaces. The basic goal is to find algebraic invariant (mathematics), invariants that classification theorem, classify topological spaces up t ...

, and proved the Adem relations between Steenrod squares.

Life and education

Born José Adem Chahín in Tuxpan,

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

, (published his works as José Adem), Adem showed an interest in mathematics from an early age, and moved to

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

in 1941 to pursue a degree in engineering and mathematics. He obtained his B.S. in mathematics from the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(UNAM) in 1949. During this time he met Solomon Lefschetz, a famous algebraic topologist who was spending prolonged periods of time in Mexico. Lefschetz recognized Adem's mathematical talent, and sent him as a doctoral student to

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

where he graduated in 1952. His dissertation, ''Iterations of the squaring operations in algebraic topology'', was written under the supervision of Norman Steenrod and introduced what are now called the Adem relations. His brother is geophysicist Julián Adem, who obtained a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

in 1953. Julián's son is topologist Alejandro Adem.

Career

Adem became a researcher at the Mathematics Institute of UNAM (1954–1961), and then head of the Mathematics Department at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (1961–1973). He was elected to El Colegio Nacional on 4 April 1960. In 1951 he was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

. In 1956, Adem started the second series of the Boletín de la Sociedad Matemática Mexicana.

Publications

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adem, Jose 1921 births 1991 deaths People from Tuxpan, Veracruz 20th-century Mexican mathematicians Topologists National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Princeton University alumni Academic staff of the National Autonomous University of Mexico Academic staff of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional Members of El Colegio Nacional (Mexico) Mexican expatriates in the United States National Prize for Arts and Sciences (Mexico)