David John Benney (8 April 1930 – 9 October 2015) was a New Zealand applied mathematician, known for work on the nonlinear partial differential equations of fluid dynamics.[2][3][4]
David Benney | |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 April 1930 Wellington, New Zealand |
| Died | 9 October 2015 (aged 85) |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Alma mater | Victoria University College University of Cambridge (BA) MIT (PhD) |
| Known for | Benney moment equations |
| Awards | Guggenheim Fellowship (1964) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Canterbury University College MIT |
| Thesis | On the secondary motion induced by oscillations in a shear flow (1959) |
| Doctoral advisor | Chia-Chiao Lin |
| Doctoral students | Alan C. Newell Mark J. Ablowitz[1] |
Education and early life
editBorn in Wellington, New Zealand, on 8 April 1930 to Cecil Henry (Matt) Benney and Phyllis Marjorie Jenkins,[5] Benney was educated at Wellington College.[6] He graduated BSc from Victoria University College in 1950, and MSc from the same institution in 1951. He then went to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, from where he graduated BA in the Mathematical Tripos in 1954. He was at Canterbury University College for two years as a lecturer,[2] before taking leave of absence in August 1957 to undertake doctoral studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), graduating PhD in 1959.[6]
Career and research
editBenney joined the mathematics faculty at MIT in 1960. He spent the rest of his career there, as a prolific researcher in fluid dynamics and supervisor of students, becoming emeritus professor.[2] He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1964.[7]
Notes
edit- ^ David Benney at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
- ^ a b c "David J. Benney, MIT Mathematics". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
- ^ Petersen 1971.
- ^ "Benney Equation, Wolfram MathWorld". Wolfram Research. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
- ^ Petersen 1971, pp. 84.
- ^ a b Bryant, Peter J. (December 1990). "Professor David Benney". NZMS Newsletter. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
- ^ "David J. Benney". John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
References
edit- Petersen, George Conrad (1971). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1971 (10th ed.). Wellington: A.H & A.W. Reed.