Bernhard Neumann

Bernhard Hermann Neumann AC FRS^[1] (15 October 1909, Berlin, Germany – 20 October 2002, Canberra, Australia) was a German-born British mathematician who was one of the leading figures in group theory, greatly influencing the direction of the subject.^[2]^[3]

He earned a PhD at the University of Cambridge in 1935 and a Doctor of Science at the University of Manchester in 1954. His students included Gilbert Baumslag, László Kovács, Michael Newman, and James Wiegold. His wife, Hanna Neumann, and son, Peter M. Neumann, are also notable for their contributions to group theory.

In 1994 Bernard Neumann was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).^[4]

The group-theoretic notion of HNN extension (where HNN stands for Higman-Neumann-Neumann) is named in (second) part after him.

Career

Assistant Lecturer, University College, Cardiff, 1937–40.
Army Service, 1940–45.
Lecturer, University College, Hull, (now University of Hull), 1946–48
Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader, Manchester, 1948–61
Professor and Head of Department of Mathematics, Institute of Advanced Studies, ANU, Canberra, 1962–74; Emeritus Professor, 1975–2002.
Senior Research Fellow, CSIRO Division of Mathematics and Statistics, 1975–77; Honorary Research Fellow, 1978–99.