Davis, Harold T. (Harold Thayer), 1892-1974
Dates
- Existence: 1892 - 1974
Biography
Harold Thayer Davis was born in Beatrice, Nebraska on October 5, 1892. After graduating from Colorado College in 1915, he received his master's degree at Harvard in 1919 and his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin in 1926. He was employed as an instructor in mathematics at the University of Wisconsin from 1920 to 1923, and then worked at Indiana University from 1923 to 1937 where he became a full professor of mathematics. After one semester as acting professor of econometrics at Colorado College, he was appointed professor of mathematics at Northwestern University in 1937, becoming Chairman of the Department in 1940. Following his retirement from Northwestern University in 1955 he served in a similar capacity at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Davis died on November 14, 1974 in Bloomington Indiana and was survived by a son and daughter.
Davis was a prolific writer; his publications include sixty volumes, along with an equal number of treatises. His writings ranged from a twenty volume ‘Encyclopedia of Mathematical Functions and Their Tables’ to a series of published Christmas tales.
For more information on Harold T. Davis read “Harold Thayer Davis and the Least Squares Estimation of Non-Linear Equations” and “Proposed Running Head: Harold Thayer Davis” by R. W. Farebrother filed in Box One of this series.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Harold T. Davis (1892-1974) Papers
Harold T. Davis was appointed professor of mathematics at Northwestern University in 1937; he became Chairman of the Department in 1940, and retired in 1955. His papers fill three archival boxes and span the period between 1924 and 1974. They consist of three folders of biographical material, five folders of articles by Davis, three bound volumes of mathematical papers by Davis and six bound volumes of tables of higher mathematical functions compiled by Davis.