Martin Kruskal, Eleanor H. Sullivan, David P. Crawford, Anna D. Helmick, Eleanor R. Ewing, George M. Chaikin
Martin Kruskal
Princeton University mathematician
Martin Kruskal of Princeton, one of the world’s pre-eminent applied mathematicians and mathematical physicists, died Dec. 26 in Princeton. He was 81.
He was a scientist at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and a faculty member at both Princeton University and Rutgers University.
"Martin Kruskal was an outstanding scientist and mathematician who will be remembered for many seminal contributions; he was also an exceptionally generous, friendly and accessible man, whose passing will be mourned by many friends, collaborators and students worldwide," said Ingrid Daubechies, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Mathematics and Applied and Computational Mathematics at Princeton.
After earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago, Professor Kruskal received his doctorate under Richard Courant at New York University in 1952. He started his career in 1951 as a research scientist at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory with Project Matterhorn, then a classified project, to produce controlled thermonuclear fusion. In 1959, he was named a senior research associate at the lab and a lecturer in astronomy at the university. He became a professor of astronomy in 1961 and, in 1968, he founded and began chairing the Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics. He was named a professor of mathematics in 1979.
In the 1950s, Professor Kruskal made a number of seminal contributions including Kruskal-Shafranov Instability, Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal (BGK) Modes and the MHD Energy Principle, which laid the theoretical foundations of controlled nuclear fusion and the then-undeveloped field of plasma physics. In 1960, he developed the well-known Kruskal Coordinates, used in the theory of relativity to explain black holes.
He is most famous for his role in starting the "soliton revolution," considered one of the great mathematical advances of the last half of the 20th century. He and Norman Zabusky discovered nonlinear waves that behave in many ways like linear waves, which they termed "solitons." Solitons are now known to be ubiquitous in nature, from physics to chemistry to biology. Their unique properties make them useful for communications, such as in undersea fiber optic cables, and they have been considered as a basis for computing.
Professor Kruskal and his colleagues also devised an ingenious method to solve the equations underlying solitons, later called the Inverse Scattering Transform (IST), which has had a profound influence on both pure and applied mathematics. Until that time, nonlinear partial differential equations were thought to be essentially unsolvable.
He was the recipient of many honors during his lifetime: the National Medal of Science awarded by President Bill Clinton in 1993; the 2006 Steele Prize for Seminal Contribution to Research and the Gibbs Lectureship, both from the American Mathematical Society; the Dannie Heineman Prize from the American Physical Society; and the Maxwell Prize from the International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics. He also was awarded memberships in the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and foreign memberships in the Royal Society of London, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.
Professor Kruskal’s passion for research was legendary on campus. Colleagues who worked with him understood that his day often began in the afternoon and ended when most people were having breakfast. Almost invariably, his research did not end with the proof, but continued until the subject was clarified to his complete satisfaction.
In 1989, he transferred to emeritus status as a professor of mathematics and astrophysical sciences at Princeton. He then joined the mathematics department at Rutgers, where he held the David Hilbert Chair of Mathematics.
In later years, Professor Kruskal devoted himself to the study of surreal numbers, while continuing to work on nonlinear partial differential equations. He also is known among magicians for his invention of a card trick called the "Kruskal Count." Over the years, he mentored generations of young mathematicians, and he continued teaching and publishing until the end of his life.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Laura Kruskal; children Karen, Kerry and Clyde; and five grandchildren.
A memorial is being planned for Feb. 11 in Princeton. Details will appear at http://www.math.rutgers.edu/kruskal/ as they become available.
Eleanor H. Sullivan
Longtime Princeton resident
JAMESBURG Eleanor H. Sullivan died Jan. 3 at Monroe Village Health Center. She was 91.
Born and educated in Boston, she was a longtime Princeton resident, moving to Monroe Village in 1991.
A business school graduate, she initially worked as assistant to the editor of the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies at Harvard University.
During the war years, she lived in Washington, D.C., while her husband was engaged in naval intelligence.
She lived in Princeton for more than 45 years with her husband, a professor and subsequently chairman of the Department of Romance Languages and Literature and later dean of the college at Princeton University.
She spent much time with him in France, eventually becoming fluent in French.
In Princeton, she was active for many years in groups promoting French language and culture.
Wife of the late Edward. D. Sullivan, she is survived by sons Barry M. Sullivan of Lititz, Pa., and Brian P. Sullivan of Princeton; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Arrangements are by Kimble Funeral Home, Princeton.
David P. Crawford
Avid sportsman
David P. Crawford of Princeton died Saturday at University Medical Center at Princeton from complications of a heart attack and stroke. He was 54.
Born and raised in Princeton, he graduated from The Hun School in 1971 and attended Denison University.
He was an avid sportsman, loved horses and worked on several horse farms.
Son of the late David Crawford, he is survived by his mother, Barbara Crawford; brother Bill; sisters Marilyn and Carolyn; nephew David; and nieces Mary, Ann, Alison and Betsy.
A memorial service will be held 11:30 a.m. Saturday in The Irish Meetinghouse of the Deep Run Presbyterian Church, Perkasie, Pa.
Memorial contributions may be made to the David L. Crawford Scholarship Fund at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Arrangements are by Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.
Anna D. Helmick
Translator
MONTGOMERY Anna D. "Dasa" Helmick died from complications from a stroke Saturday in Prague, Czech Republic.
Mrs. Helmick was a 10-year resident of Montgomery.
Fluent in six languages, she was a translator for many years.
In her youth, she was a ballerina in the Czech National Theater and then became an actress touring Italy.
During World War II, she was imprisoned nine months when the leader of her acting troupe was captured by the Nazis for carrying messages for the Czech underground. She escaped from Czechoslovakia when the communists were arresting members of the Czech resistance. Having suffered from German and Soviet occupation, she was a staunch advocate for the rights of the oppressed.
She was an avid bridge player and dancer. She wrote poetry and sang.
She was first married to the Czech pianist and composer Vladimir Horcik. He and their daughter, Jana Maria, predecease her. She was married 25 years to Col. Floyd Helmick, a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam who died from complications from Agent Orange.
She is survived by daughters Nora Whisnant of Montgomery, Dana Bartlet of Prague and Mara Broadhurst of Sherwood, Ore.; grandchildren Philip, Rolf, Tanya, Nick, Karla, Adrian, Robbie, Jodi and Jana; and great-grandsons Sean, Jonathan, Daniel, Max and Dray.
She will be buried with her husband at Arlington National Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, P.O. Box 141, Rocky Hill, NJ 08553.
Eleanor R. Ewing
Daughter lives in Princeton
HIGHTSTOWN Eleanor Robertson Ewing died Saturday from complications of pneumonia at University Medical Center at Princeton. She was 88.
Born the eldest of 11 children on a farm in Blackstone, Va., Mrs. Ewing was a former resident of Wheeling, W.Va., Mill Valley and Larkspur, Calif., East Holland, Pa., and South Brunswick. She had lived at Meadow Lakes in Hightstown since 2002.
Mrs. Ewing was an avid gardener, an award-winning potter and weaver and a skilled homemaker, and designer. She directed the redecoration of a number of homes and usually did most of the work herself, building stone walls, laying wood floors and installing cabinetry. She and an associate built a house in Tiburon, Calif., leaving only the plumbing and electrical work to contractors.
While raising her three children, she earned a bachelor’s degree in history at Wheeling College. She taught world history at the nearby Mount deChantal Visitation Academy for several years.
Following the end of her marriage to a Wheeling attorney, she moved to California, where she pursued her crafts and worked as a legal secretary. She came to the Princeton area in 1987.
She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Margaret E. and Robert F. Stengel of Princeton; sons and daughters-in-law James W. II and Evelyn M. Ewing of Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Edward R. and Linda G. Ewing of Schaumburg, Ill.; eight brothers and sisters; seven grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Jan. 20 at Trinity Church, Princeton, with interment in the church’s memorial garden.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Meadow Lakes Community Fund, Presbyterian Homes of New Jersey Foundation, 13 Roszel Road, Suite C-120, P.O. Box 2184, Princeton, NJ 08543.
Arrangements are by Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.
George M. Chaikin
Art and mathematics professor
LAWRENCE George Merrill Chaikin died Jan. 3 at Chandler Hall Hospice, Newtown, Pa. He was 62.
Born in New York City, he was a Lawrence resident 26 years.
Mr. Chaikin was a professor of art and mathematics at Lehman College of the City University of New York in the Bronx. He previously taught at Cooper Union, the School of Visual Arts, Princeton University and New York University.
He graduated from the Cooper Union in New York City with a bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1969 and from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., with a master’s degree in computer science in 1974.
He also worked as a research scientist and artist. He held research affiliations at NASA, Siemens Corp. and the Brain Research Laboratory at New York University.
As a research scientist, he developed a method for drawing curves with computers that came to be known as "Chaikin’s Algorithm." He also designed and patented a microchip used in computer imaging based on the geometry of logarithmic spirals.
As an artist, he collaborated with many individual and collectives, including Ocean Earth and Plexus International. His work appeared in shows worldwide including exhibits in New York, Chicago, Amsterdam, Rome, Vienna, Munich and Cagliari, Sardinia.
Son of the late George and Elizabeth Moore Chaikin, he is survived by his wife, Kathie; sons Nicholas and Paul; daughter Eliza; sister Harriet Coyne; and grandchildren Hugo, Leo and Molly.
A memorial service will be held 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Princeton Friends Meeting, 470 Quaker Road, Princeton.
Arrangements are by Poulson & Van Hise Funeral Directors, Lawrence.