Hoy recibi una amable carta ('snail mail') del Profesor Al Stralka
(@ UCR) en la cual adjunta una fotocopia (fechada Mayo 18, 1999)
con el texto (apenas editado) que transcribo a continuacion:
Floyd Burton Jones (1910 -- 1999)
Dr. F. Burton Jones passed away on April 15, 1999 at the Vista
del Monte Retirement Facility in Santa Barbara. He and his wife
Madeleine had resided there since 1992. He was an emeritus
professor from the University of California at Riverside where
he had taught mathematics since 1962. He was born in Cisco,
Texas, on November 22, 1910. He was raised in Albany, Texas in
Austin, and attended high school there before going to the
University of Texas in Austin in 1928. He completed both his
undergraduate and Ph.D degrees there and joined the faculty in
1935. There he met Madeleine Maire in his freshman mathematics
class. They were married in 1936. During W.W.II, he was part of
a small group of scientists who developed scanning sonar for
navy submarines at Harvard University's underwater sound lab. In
1950 he joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina
where he taught and served as chairman of the Mathematics Dept.
for 12 years. He published over 40 papers in his field of
mathematics, topology, and was internationally recognized for
his work. However, teaching and getting young people interested
in mathematics was his main interest. He passed this love of
teaching on to his graduate students, many of whom teach in
California as well as other states. In 1980 in honor of his 70th
birthday, leading mathematicians throughout the world came to UCR
to present 50 papers at a four-day program in topology in his
honor. In 1987, he and Madeleine endowed the F. Burton Jones
Chair in Topology at UCR. He was recognized at that time by the
California State Assembly for his dedication to teaching and his
many contributions to the university. His other primary interest
was electronics and amateur radio which he had been licensed to
use since the late twenties and continued to use until his death.
He is survived by his wife of 83 years, Madeleine, three children,
Marian Silva of Santa Ynez, CA., W. Clay Jones of Waxahatchie, TX.,
and Lesley Jones of Wimberly, TX., his brother, Wayne Rudmose of
Austin, TX., five grandsons and two great granddaughters.
Afectuosamente,
Julio GC