Felix Pollaczek

Félix Pollaczek (1 December 1892 in Vienna – 29 April 1981 at Boulogne-Billancourt) was an Austrian-French engineer and mathematician, known for numerous contributions to number theory, mathematical analysis, mathematical physics and probability theory. He is best known for the Pollaczek–Khinchine formula in queueing theory, and the Meixner-Pollaczek polynomials.

Education and career Pollaczek studied at the Technical University of Vienna, got a M.Sc. in electrical engineering from Technical University of Brno (1920), and his Ph.D. in mathematics from University of Berlin (1922) with a dissertation titled Über die Kreiskörper der l-ten und l2-ten Einheitswurzeln, advised by Issai Schur and based on results published first in 1917.

Pollaczek was employed by AEG in Berlin (1921–23), and later worked for Reichspost (1923–33). In 1933, he was fired because he was Jewish.

Personal life He married mathematician Hilda Geiringer in 1921, and they had a child, Magda, in 1922. However, their marriage did not last, and Magda was brought up by Hilda. Pollaczek became physicist László Tisza's father-in-law due to Magda's marriage.