A. Adrian Albert (1905–1972)

A. (Abraham) Adrian Albert was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Russian immigrant parents. In 1922, aged 17, he entered the University of Chicago, where he received his B.S. degree in 1926, his M.A. in 1927, and his PhD in mathematics in 1928, all by the age of 22. In 1927, while completing his studies, he married Frieda Davis, with whom he had three children. He spent a postdoctoral year at Princeton University on a National Research Council Fellowship. From 1929 to 1931, he was an instructor at Columbia University in New York City. He then returned to the University of Chicago, where he rose steadily through the ranks to become professor in 1941 and chairman of the Department of Mathematics from 1958 to 1962. In 1960, he was named a Distinguished Service Professor, the highest honor the university could bestow. The following year, he accepted the demanding post of Dean of the Division of Physical Sciences for nine years. He wrote about a hundred scholarly papers on his main research interests of associative algebras, non-associative algebras, and Riemann matrices. His numerous books included Modern Higher Algebra (1937) and Structure of Algebras (1939), both definitive references. During World War II, he worked for the U.S. military as associate director of the Applied Mathematics Group at Northwestern University. One of his most notable achievements was his groundbreaking work on cryptography. He gave an invited address entitled "Some Mathematical Aspects of Cryptography" at a meeting of the American Mathematical Society in November 1941. The theory that developed from this work is seen today in digital communications technologies. Prof. Albert served on policy-making bodies such as the Office of Naval Research, the U.S. National Research Council, and the National Science Foundation that directed more research funding into mathematics, giving many young mathematicians new career opportunities. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1968.