Princeton Weekly Bulletin May 25, 1998

Bernard Dwork, 74, Eugene Higgins Professor of Mathematics, Emeritus, died on May 9.

Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Dwork was educated at the City College of New York and Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. After what he referred to as his "misspent youth" as an electrical engineer, he received his PhD in math from Columbia University in 1954.

In this field, he pioneered the application of p-adic analytic methods to the algebraic geometry of varieties over finite fields. In 1962 he was awarded the Cole Prize of the American Mathematical Society for his proof of the rationality of the zeta function of an algebraic variety over a finite field. His work then led him to invent a new subject, the study of differential equations from the point of view of p-adic analysis. The most recent of his more than 70 publications, which include three books, was completed just weeks before his death.

After three years at Harvard and seven at Johns Hopkins, Dwork joined the Princeton math department in 1964. He became Eugene Higgins Professor of Mathematics in 1978. In 1992 he was named Professore di Chiara Fama by the Italian government and awarded a special chair at the University of Padua. He transferred to emeritus status at Princeton in 1993.

Among Dwork's broad interests were history and poetry. He was an avid bicycle rider, and he and his wife spent many vacations walking mountain trails. He served in the Pacific campaign during World War II.

Dwork is survived by Shirley, his wife of 50 years, and three children, Andrew, Deborah and Cynthia; and four granddaughters.

A memorial service is planned for 11:30 a.m. on May 24 in Taplin Auditorium, Fine Hall.