Max A. Woodbury

Max Atkin Woodbury (1917–2010) was an American mathematician. He was born in St George, Utah to Angus Munn Woodbury and Grace (Atkin) Woodbury.[1][2][3] He had three brothers and two sisters, including the biologists Dixon Miles Woodbury and John Walter Woodbury.[3]

Career[edit]

He received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Utah in 1939, Master of Science from the University of Michigan in 1941 and metrology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[4][2] He obtained his doctorate at the University of Michigan in 1948 advised by Arthur Herbert Copeland. His dissertation was entitled Probability and Expected Values.[5]

He was a member of the faculty, University of Michigan 1947-1949, Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton 1949-1950,[6] member of faculty Princeton University 1950-1952.[7] He moved to be an associate professor in statistics at the University of Pennsylvania from 1952-1954.[8] After a brief leave at the Office of Naval Research 1954-1956,[9] he became faculty at New York University from 1956-1965,[10][11] then a professor of computer science and biomathematics at Duke University.[12][13] He became an emeritus professor at Duke, but continued to take an active role in research for many years.[14][15]

Woodbury identity[edit]

The Woodbury matrix identity used in linear algebra is named after him.[7][16] The related Sherman–Morrison formula is a special case of the formula,[17][18][19] with the term Sherman-Morrison-Woodbury sometimes used. An early overview of some of its uses has been given by Hager,[20] see also the book "Woodbury Matrix Identity".[21] These methods are taught in many mathematics courses on linear algebra.

Awards[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "United States Census, 1920, entry for Entry for Angus M Woodbury and Grace Woodbury". FamilySearch. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Utahns move ahead in U.S. Forces". The Salt Lake Tribune. 26 March 1944. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  3. ^ a b Tanner, Vasco M. (1965). "Angus Munn Woodbury 1886-1964". The Great Basin Naturalist. 25: 81–88. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.1717. ISSN 0017-3614.
  4. ^ "Max Atkin Woodbury, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1947". FamilySearch. 16 April 2024.
  5. ^ Max A. Woodbury at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  6. ^ "Max Woodbury, IAS Scholars record". Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  7. ^ a b Max A. Woodbury, Inverting modified matrices, Memorandum Rept. 42, Statistical Research Group, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 1950, 4pp MR38136
  8. ^ "University of Pennsylvania Faculty Staff Newsletter" (PDF). 1 November 1954. p. 4. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  9. ^ "News and Notices". The Annals of Mathematical Statistics. 26 (1): 163–188. 1955. ISSN 0003-4851. JSTOR 2236774.
  10. ^ "Meeting (includes Max Woodbury NYU as contact)". Journal of the Aeronautical Sciences. 23 (12): 1074. 1956. doi:10.2514/8.3744. ISSN 1936-9956.
  11. ^ Calvey, George L (1964). "The prediction of disease" (PDF). US Navy Medical News Letter. 43 (8): 6.
  12. ^ Woodbury, Max. "Longitudinal Models of Correlates of Aging and Longevity". US NIH Grant Database.
  13. ^ Random Numbers Behaving Too Orderly? (Report). 2021-08-01. doi:10.1126/article.40319.
  14. ^ "Duke University Alumni Magazine". Duke. 2000-12-01. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  15. ^ "Publications of Max A. Woodbury at Duke and elsewhere". Research Gate. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  16. ^ Max A. Woodbury, The Stability of Out-Input Matrices. Chicago, Ill., 1949. 5 pp. MR32564
  17. ^ Sherman, Jack; Morrison, Winifred J. (1949). "Adjustment of an Inverse Matrix Corresponding to Changes in the Elements of a Given Column or a Given Row of the Original Matrix (abstract)". Annals of Mathematical Statistics. 20: 621. doi:10.1214/aoms/1177729959.
  18. ^ Sherman, Jack; Morrison, Winifred J. (1950). "Adjustment of an Inverse Matrix Corresponding to a Change in One Element of a Given Matrix". Annals of Mathematical Statistics. 21 (1): 124–127. doi:10.1214/aoms/1177729893. MR 0035118. Zbl 0037.00901.
  19. ^ Press, William H.; Teukolsky, Saul A.; Vetterling, William T.; Flannery, Brian P. (2007), "Section 2.7.1 Sherman–Morrison Formula", Numerical Recipes: The Art of Scientific Computing (3rd ed.), New York: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-88068-8, archived from the original on 2012-03-19, retrieved 2011-08-08
  20. ^ Hager, William W. (1989). "Updating the Inverse of a Matrix". SIAM Review. 31 (2): 221–239. doi:10.1137/1031049. ISSN 0036-1445.
  21. ^ Surhone, Lambert M.; Timpledon, Miriam T.; Marseken, Susan F. (2010). Woodbury Matrix Identity. VDM Publishing. ISBN 978-613-1-18691-2.
  22. ^ "American Statistical Association". American Statistical Association. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  23. ^ "Institute of Mathematical Statistics | Honored IMS Fellows". Retrieved 2024-04-17.


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