Aristotle Demetrius Michal
1899-1953
Aristotle Demetrius Michal was born on May 1, 1899 in Smyrna, Turkey to Demetrius and Sophia (Chaousoglou) Michal. He immigrated to the U.S. with his parents in 1911. He was awarded an A.B. degree from Clark University in 1920 and an A.M. degree in 1921. He then studied at Rice Institute (now University) and received a Ph.D. in 1924, writing a thesis in functional analysis under the direction of Griffith Evans.
Michal then was awarded a National Research Fellowship which he used to do postdoctoral work at Chicago, Harvard and Princeton during 1925-27. In 1927 he was appointed assistant professor at Ohio State University where he remained until 1929. During this time he contributed to the inauguration of the graduate program of the department by directing the second three Ph.D. students of the department. (The first had been Grace M. Bareis in 1909.)
In 1929 he accepted an offer of associate professor at California Institute of Technology and was promoted to professor in 1938. He remained there until his death.
Michal was the author of numerous papers and monographs in the areas of functional analysis, differential equations, and differential geometry. He was also an active member of the American mathematical community, serving on the Council of the American Mathematical Society and as secretary of the Far Western Section of the Society. He was also editor of Mathematics Magazine. He directed 25 Ph.D. students.
He married Luddye Charlotte Kennerly on June 9, 1924 and had one daughter, Thalia Charlotte.
He died in Pasadena, California on June 14, 1953.