Wilfred Kaplan

Wilfred Kaplan (November 28, 1915 – December 26, 2007) was a professor of mathematics at the University of Michigan for 46 years, from 1940 through 1986. His research focused on dynamical systems, the topology of curve families, complex function theory, and differential equations. In total, he authored over 30 research papers and 11 textbooks.

For over thirty years Kaplan was an active member of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and served as president of the University of Michigan chapter from 1978 to 1985.

Early life

Education Wilfred Kaplan was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Jacob and Anne Kaplan. He attended Boston Latin School Later that same year he received his master's degree at Harvard. Kaplan received a Rogers Fellow scholarship to study in Europe from 1936 to 1937, during his second year of graduate school.

Personal life While attending lectures at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich he met a fellow mathematician, Ida Roetting, whom he nicknamed Heidi and would eventually marry in 1938. The mathematics department at this time was diminishing due to the effects of World War II. Enrollment was down and some of the faculty had been granted leaves to do military research. His later research took on a more applied approach as he returned once more to differential equations, this time engaging in a more global analysis. In total, Wilfred Kaplan authored about 30 research papers. From 1973 to 1978, Kaplan served on the executive committee of the University of Michigan Chapter of the AAUP and took over as president in the years from 1978 through 1985. He continued being an active member even in his retirement, serving as executive secretary from 1985 to 2002. The award recognized excellence in undergraduate instruction and sought to incentive great teaching. While serving on the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, Kaplan received their Distinguished Faculty Governance Award in 1986.

Retirement Wilfred Kaplan retired in May 1986 after 46 years of service to the university. It was then that he received the emeritus distinction. Despite his retirement, Kaplan was still involved with the university. In the years to come he would receive several requests from the University Regents Commission to return to active duty to teach specific classes in the mathematics department. Kaplan was on the AFLF's board of directors until his death.

After his wife's death in 2005, Kaplan wrote a book titled Bill and Heidi: Beginning of our Lives Together, which was a translated composition of all their early correspondence before their wedding. Kaplan died on December 26, 2007, after a short illness. After his death, Walter Dublin, professor emeritus of Mechanical Engineering, wrote about Kaplan in a letter to the editor of the Ann Arbor News that Kaplan "worked tirelessly to improve the faculty--and, de facto, the university--by his work on many committees, work that spanned multiple decades. While he was a leader, he was never domineering, but always logical. Often, he would quietly remind his associates when they had strayed from their stated purpose or point out a legal or historical obstacle to what was being considered. He was always up to date and on the mark until he died, many years after he had retired."

Selected bibliography Kaplan, Wilfred. Advanced Calculus. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1952. Print. Kaplan, Wilfred. Ordinary Differential Equations. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Pub., 1958. Print. Kaplan, Wilfred, and Donald J. Lewis. Calculus and Linear Algebra. New York: Wiley, 1970. Print. Kaplan, Wilfred. Advanced Mathematics for Engineers. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Pub., 1981. Print. Kaplan, Wilfred. Operational Methods for Linear Systems. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Pub., 1962. Print. Kaplan, Wilfred. "Regular curve-families filling the plane, I." Duke Mathematical Journal 7.1 (1940): 154–185. Web. Kaplan, Wilfred. "Regular Curve-families Filling the Plane, II." Duke Mathematical Journal 8.1 (1941): 11–46. Web. Kaplan, Wilfred. "Topology of Level Curves of Harmonic Functions." Transactions of the American Mathematical Society 63.3 (1948): 514. Web. Kaplan, Wilfred. "Dynamics of Linear Systems (Vaclav Dolez Al)." SIAM Review 8.2 (1966): 246–2. ProQuest. Web. 21 Mar. 2015. Kaplan, Wilfred. "Applications of Undergraduate Mathematics in Engineering (Ben Noble)." SIAM Review 10.3 (1968): 383–2. ProQuest. Web. 21 Mar. 2015. Kaplan, Wilfred. "Topics in Mathematical System Theory (Rudolf E. Kalman, Peter L. Falb and Michael A. Arbib)." SIAM Review 12.1 (1970): 157–2. ProQuest. Web. 21 Mar. 2015. Kaplan, Wilfred. "Topics in Ordinary Differential Equations: A Potpourri (William D. Lakin and David A. Sanchez)." SIAM Review 14.3 (1972): 508–2. ProQuest. Web. 21 Mar. 2015. Kaplan, Wilfred. "Ordinary Differential Equations in the Complex Domain (Einar Hills)." SIAM Review 19.4 (1977): 749–1. ProQuest. Web. 21 Mar. 2015. Kaplan, Wilfred. "Green's Functions and Boundary Value Problems (Ivar Stackgold)." SIAM Review 23.1 (1981): 117–2. ProQuest. Web. 21 Mar. 2015.