7/18/02

ENDOWMENT ESTABLISHED FOR AU MATHEMATICS PROFESSOR

AUBURN -- The Ben Fitzpatrick Jr. Memorial Fund, named for a deceased longtime member of the mathematics faculty at Auburn University, has reached $25,000, the level needed to qualify for establishment as a permanent AU endowment.

Earnings from this memorial fellowship will be awarded to a graduate student with an interest in topology, an area in which Fitzpatrick specialized, said Tammy Beck, development officer for the AU College of Sciences and Mathematics.

Topology is the study of those geometric figures that remain unchanged even when under distortion, so long as no surfaces are torn.

Fitzpatrick, professor emeritus of mathematics, died in 2000. His friends and family established the fellowship to create a lasting memorial for the professor who was a prominent part of the academic program for more than three decades.

"Dr. Fitzpatrick is the father of the math program at Auburn, the grandfather being Vann Parker, for whom Parker Hall is named," said Jack Brown, professor of math. "He (Fitzpatrick) was certainly the most important influence on my career."

Fitzpatrick received his bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1952 from Auburn.

In 1958, he earned a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. He returned to Auburn in 1959 and later served a lengthy period as a department chair. Fitzpatrick retired in 1992.

Tax-deductible contributions to the Fitzpatrick fund are still being accepted and may be mailed to COSAM's Development Office to the attention of Tammy Beck, 317 S. College Street, Auburn University, Ala. 36849.

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