Dennis DeTurck explained

Dennis M. DeTurck (born July 15, 1954) is an American mathematician known for his work in partial differential equations and Riemannian geometry, in particular contributions to the theory of the Ricci flow and the prescribed Ricci curvature problem. He first used the DeTurck trick to give an alternative proof of the short time existence of the Ricci flow, which has found other uses since then.

Education

DeTurck received a B.S. (1976) from Drexel University. He received an M.A. (1978) and Ph.D. (1980) in mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania. His Ph.D. supervisor was Jerry Kazdan.

Career

DeTurck is currently Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 2005 to 2017 and Faculty Director of Riepe College House^[1] from 2009 to 2018. In 2002, DeTurck won the Haimo Award from the Mathematical Association of America for his teaching.^[2] Despite being recognized for excellence in teaching, he has been criticized for his belief that fractions are "as obsolete as Roman numerals" and suggesting that they not be taught to younger students.^[3]

In January 2012, he shared the Chauvenet Prize with three mathematical collaborators.^{[4] [5]} In 2012, he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.^[6]

Selected publications

• DeTurck. Dennis M.. June 1981. Existence of Metrics With Prescribed Ricci Curvature: Local Theory. Inventiones Mathematicae. 65. 2. 179–207. 10.1007/BF01389010. 1981InMat..65..179D . 122644870.
• DeTurck. Dennis M.. 1983. Deforming metrics in the direction of their Ricci tensors. live. Journal of Differential Geometry. 18. 1. 157–162. 10.4310/jdg/1214509286. https://web.archive.org/web/20190530220410/https://projecteuclid.org/download/pdf_1/euclid.jdg/1214509286. 2019-05-30. free. (explains the DeTurck trick; also see the improved version)

External links

• Article with some career and biographical info
• Dennis DeTurck's homepage

Notes and References

1. Web site: House Staff, Riepe College House, U. of Penn.. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20121114051058/http://riepe.house.upenn.edu/house_staff. 2012-11-14.
2. Web site: Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award. 2007-04-10. The Mathematical Association of America. https://web.archive.org/web/20190507072419/https://www.maa.org/programs-and-communities/member-communities/maa-awards/teaching-awards/haimo-award-distinguished-teaching. 2019-05-07. live. 2007-12-26.
3. News: Educators divided by fractions debate. Milford. Maureen. 2007-12-26. The News Journal. 2007-12-26. https://archive.today/20130408055104/http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071226/NEWS03/712260337/1006/NEWS&nclick_check=1. 2013-04-08. Philadelphia. A few years ago, Dennis DeTurck, an award-winning professor of mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania, stood at an outdoor podium on campus and proclaimed "Down with fractions!". dead.
4. News: Penn Mathematicians Win 2012 Chauvenet Prize. Baillie. Katherine Unger. January 30, 2012. Penn Today. https://web.archive.org/web/20190530215408/https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/penn-mathematicians-win-2012-chauvenet-prize. May 30, 2019. live. University of Pennsylvania.
5. DeTurck, Dennis. Gluck, Herman. Pomerleano, Daniel. Vela-Vick, Shea. The Four Vertex Theorem and Its Converse. Notices of the American Mathematical Society. 54. 2007. 2. 192–207.
6. https://www.ams.org/profession/fellows-list List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society