Tribute to Ernest Schlesinger

          from Perry Susskind

(Jason Molitierno informed me of the death of a previous Chair of our Section –Ernest Schlesinger.  I asked his Chair at Connecticut College, Perry Susskind, to share his tribute to Schlesinger with us.)

 

Memorial Minute for Ernest C. Schlesinger

Read at Faculty Meeting, Connecticut College, 4/2/08

by Perry Susskind, Professor and Chair,

Department of Mathematics and Computer Science

 

Ernest Carl Schlesinger was born on November 25, 1925 in Hildesheim, Germany.  On November 9th, 1938, just before Ernie’s 13th birthday, the infamous Kristallnacht – the night of broken glass – occurred in which thousands of Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues were destroyed.  Years later, at Connecticut College and elsewhere, at commemorations of this event, Ernie shared firsthand memories of those frightening days. 

 

Ernie and his parents remained in Germany during the precarious days following Kristallnacht until July of 1940, after finally receiving visas to emigrate. As France had already fallen to the Germans, the family, fortunate enough in those dangerous days to have obtained visas to emigrate to America, embarked East by train.  After being relieved of most of their valuables at the border, owing to the “J” stamped in their passports, they traveled across Russia to Korea, and then by boat to Japan.  From Yokohama, Japan, less than a year and a half before Pearl Harbor, they boarded a ship and sailed to Seattle, arriving on August 3rd, 1940.  So ended of a month-long  journey to America.  Incidentally, their route, which was repeated about 25 times by other refugee groups, was soon closed by the Nazis at the Eastern border.1

 

The family settled in Seattle.  After a two-year stint in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1945, Ernie received his undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from University of Washington in 1947.  He began his academic career there as an Instructor in Philosophy, and received his masters degree in 1950.  Ernie then moved to Cambridge and received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard in 1955.  His advisor was the renowned complex analyst Lars Ahlfors, one of the preeminent mathematicians of the twentieth century, and the first recipient of the Fields Medal, the mathematics equivalent of the Nobel prize.

 

Ernie was an Instructor in Mathematics at Yale from 1955 to 1958, and an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Wesleyan University from 1958 – 1962.   Shortly after beginning at Yale, Ernie was afflicted with Polio and spent a month in an iron lung– it was one of the last polio epidemics in the U.S.  He was lucky to have survived with no major problems.  In 1962 Ernie finally came to Connecticut College.

 

In Ernie’s college file there is a letter from his famous advisor.  After making  positive comments about Ernie’s research and teaching Ahlfors ends with:  “As for personal qualities, you could not find a nicer man.”  Indeed, Ernie was the most gentle, gracious and kindly individual I have ever met.  Because of these qualities, and because he had a keen mind and a knack for conveying ideas, Ernie was an inspiring and beloved teacher and was adored by his students.  As an instance, Ed Burger, well known mathematician, author and alumnus, wrote the following inscription to Ernie in his book, The Heart of Mathematics:  “To my teacher, Ernest C. Schlesinger, whose care, guidance and encouragement not only shaped who I am but set the highest standards for who I want to be.”

 

I recall Ernie’s students arranging for him to be serenaded by the Scwhiffs on his birthday.  Some of his students, perhaps in the hope that it would provide inspiration and aid them in completing challenging homework assignments, would quietly imitate Ernie’s slight German accent while talking about mathematics.  The fondness students felt for Ernie was accompanied by great respect.  Many of you recall that in the old days, faculty were addressed as Mr. or Ms. rather than with the title, Professor. So it was Mr. Susskind or Ms. Baird, but among the students it was always, Dr. Schlesinger.  Somewhat unexpected then was Ernie’s impish side.  For example, every so often, when he had to erase the blackboard Ernie would hold the eraser to the board, his arms bent at the elbow.  With great seriousness and dignity, but without moving his arms, he would erase the board by leaping up and down.  Ernie also was a merciless punster.  No corner of the English language was safe.

 

In addition to teaching almost all of the courses in the mathematics curriculum, Ernie also taught introductory computer science at the college for many years, and so was instrumental in developing our fledgling program in computer science.  Ernie chaired the mathematics department and served on and chaired innumerable committees including PPBC and the Grievance Committee. 

 

As part of his graciousness Ernie was a strong influence over many years on faculty civility, and even during contentious moments was always the one who kept his head and sought harmony within the department and the college. 

         

Though his work at the college led him away from his early research, Ernie was an accomplished mathematician who worked in a difficult and central field. (Indeed, Ernie worked in a very tough league: many Fields medal recipients until five or ten years ago worked in related areas.)  His earliest paper, Conformal invariants and prime ends, appeared in the venerable, American Journal of Mathematics.   The results in this 1958 paper, particularly his definition of the mathematical object, “prime end,” by way of “extremal length,” figured prominently in chapter four of his advisor’s classic book, Conformal invariants: Topics in geometric function theory.   (If you would like to have one, used copies of this book are available at Amazon.com for $2,000.)  Ernie’s work has retained its relevance, continues to be cited to this day – I’ve checked – and has become part the standard mathematical landscape for practitioners in the field.  Recently, I met a well-known complex analyst at a conference who, having studied Ernie’s work and knowing that I taught at Connecticut College, asked me if I thought Ernie would be willing to correspond with him about some mathematical questions he had.  I replied that I did not know, but that I thought Ernie would be tickled by the request.

 

Of course, there is more to say.  Ernie along with his wife Gaby have through the years been guided by the principles of  tzedakah and tikkun olam – literally, righteousness and healing the world.  For them this has translated into significant community service, giving to innumerable charitable causes, and seeking social justice.  Ernie served on New London’s Finance Board for twenty years, was chair for twelve years, and was reputed to be one of very few who ever actually read the entire city budget.  He also served on and chaired  New London’s Appropriations Board and the Sewer Authority, where he negotiated with Waterford in the building of the sewage treatment plant.  (As Gaby said on the phone yesterday, “you should think of Ernie every time you flush the toilet.”)

 

 Through the years Ernie and Gaby made generous contributions to truly innumerable deserving causes.  There were many donations to the college including endowing two funds for the Connecticut College Library: the Elsa Pintus Fund in honor of Gaby’s mother, and the Kurt and Edith Munter Fund.  Both of these are used to purchase books in Jewish Studies. A special interest of Ernie’s was promoting women in mathematics.  Indeed, Ernie and Gaby have through the years devoted themselves to many progressive causes. 

 

Ernie was blessed with a loving family: son David, daughter Eva, daughter-in-law Rachel, his loving wife Gabriella, and also, until she died, his mother-in-law Elsa Pintus.

 

          There is an ancient Jewish legend, going back to the time of the prophet Isaiah, of the Lamed-Vov Tzaddikim or thirty-six righteous ones.  In this legend the “world requires a minimum of thirty-six righteous individuals in order to exist.”   The Lamed-Vov redeem the world “through their capacity to feel the collective suffering of the human race and to respond to the suffering around them.” No one knows who they are, including the Lamed-Vov themselves.  We can see their work everywhere in the “acts of good people who rise to great acts in difficult circumstances.”2 At Ernie’s house two evenings after his funeral,  one gentleman suggested that Ernie might have been one of the Lamed-Vov.  Perhaps this was hyperbole – though certainly there is no better time for such hyperbole.   For those who knew Ernie, however, it is easy to imagine that he might indeed have been one of the 36. 

          Given such precarious beginnings, Ernie might not have lived past his early teens.  As a friend and colleague I am struck by what a marvelous life he had.  He was an accomplished mathematician, a beloved and effective educator, was a genial force in faculty governance, made important contributions to progressive causes, both locally and everywhere it was called for, and had a loving and devoted family.  Most of all Ernie  appreciated his life as the wonderful gift that it was. 

Mr. President, I request that these remarks be recorded as part of our faculty minutes.

 

.


1 Some facts and phrases come from: “A Memorable Journey” by Ernest Stiefel, (Fall 2000).  http://www.wsjhs.org/pdf/MemorableJourney.pdf

 

 

2 Description of the Lamed-Vov, paraphrases and quotes are taken from, “Miracles of the Common Way” by Rev. Henry Ticknor (December 5, 2004) http://www.uushenandoah.org/sermons/041205.htm