AMS Presidents: A Timeline

26. Harold Calvin Marston Morse (1892-1977)

President 1941-1942

After serving in the military during World War I, Morse taught at Harvard University, Cornell College, and Brown University, then spent the rest of his academic career at Harvard University (1926-1935) and at the Institute for Advanced Study (1935 until his retirement in 1975). He developed what became known as Morse theory, a powerful tool in the field of global analysis, and an important contribution of American mathematics. Morse won the National Medal of Science in 1965, and was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and of academies in Italy and France.

• History of the Second Fifty Years: American Mathematical Society, 1939-1988, by Everett Pitcher (AMS, 1988), which includes AMS Presidents from 1939-1988 (and reports on all aspects of the Society during the period)
• The MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
• Mathematics Genealogy Project