I'm trying to find the birth and death years for William Transue. He
worked with Marston Morse (1892-1977) at the Institute for Advanced
Study. He also worked with Morse at Princeton.

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Request for Question Clarification by luciaphile-ga on 19 May 2004 08:49 PDT

Hi mbhenry-ga,

Yet another partial. I found a possible ID (and have a DOB). This
gentleman did work at the Institute for Advanced Study (two stints). I
did not find a reference to Princeton. He also worked at Kenyon and at
Lehigh. The last mention I have of him is from 1998. He'd be around
90. Let me know if I'm on the right track.

Regards,
luciaphile-ga

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Clarification of Question by mbhenry-ga on 19 May 2004 09:34 PDT

I'm sure you have the right person. I apologize for the confusion
about Princeton. Transue did technically work with Morse at Princeton,
since that is where the Institute for Advanced Study resides.

I've searched through the Mathematics Geneaology db and found two
entries for William R. Transue. One is the Transue that you found at
Lehigh (PhD in 1941) and worked at IAS (1942-43, 1948-49). The other
received his PhD much later (1967) and so could not possibly have
worked with Morse at IAS before he retired in 1962. I've also found
publications from 1950 authored by W. Transue and M. Morse.

I can not verify whether he worked at Kenyon or not. I am worried
about whether he is still alive or not. I would feel much more
confident if there was some mention of him after 2001 or 2002.

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Request for Question Clarification by luciaphile-ga on 19 May 2004 10:11 PDT

Okay, I'll see if I can't narrow this down a little further. If I do
have the right person, he also has a son named William, which might
account for the confusion.

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Request for Question Clarification by luciaphile-ga on 20 May 2004 10:47 PDT

I have located a listing from 2003/2004 with Professor Transue listed
as an emeritus professor for the last college he worked for, which
matches up with the entry in the reference book. Would that be
sufficient? Let me know!

Regards,
luciaphile-ga

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Clarification of Question by mbhenry-ga on 20 May 2004 11:40 PDT

Yeah, that is sufficient.

Hi mbhenry-ga,

Thanks for your question. This is getting to be a habit, albeit a very
pleasant one.

William Reagle Transue was born in Pen Argyl, PA on November 30, 1914.
He received his B.S. from Lafayette College in 1935. He received a
M.A. and a PhD from Lehigh University in 1939 and 1941 respectively.
He worked as an assistant for the Institute for Advanced Study from
1942 to 1943. He worked for the Ordnance Department of the U.S. Army,
first as an associate physicist (1943 to 1944) and than as a physicist
(1944 to 1945). He was an associate professor of mathematics at Kenyon
College from 1945 to 1948, following which he worked again for the
Institute for Advanced Study until 1949. Then he returned to Kenyon
where he was a professor from 1949 to 1966. His last professional
appointment was at SUNY Binghamton where he was a professor of
mathematics until 1981. He is listed as retired.

"American Men & Women of Science." New Providence, New Jersey: R.R.
Bowker, 1998-99, 20th ed., vol. 7, p. 216.

The most recent mention of him appears to be from the site listed
below. Professor Transue is listed as an emeritus professor at
Binghamton.

Binghamton University Bulletin 2003-2004
http://bulletin.binghamton.edu/introdisplay2003.asp?program_id=177

Inside Binghamton
http://inside.binghamton.edu/March-April/30APR98/reunion.html

Otton Nikodym balances teaching and research
http://ordman.net/Edward/Nikodym.html

SEARCH STRATEGY
"william transue" mathematics
"bill transue"
"bill transue" binghamton
"william reagle transue"
"william r transue" mathematics
American Men & Women of Science

I hope this answers your question. If you need further assistance,
please ask for clarification and I'll do my best to assist you.

Regards,
luciaphile-ga

Thanks for keeping with this one and finding the answer.

I just came across your Transue exchange.  William R. Transue is my
grandfather, and yes, he's still alive (at 90).  (William R. R.
Transue, also a mathematician, is my uncle.)  If you have any
unanswered questions about him, send them on and I'd be glad to answer
(or ask him, if needed).

Emily R. Transue MD, Seattle WA