Tag Archives: Patricia R James (1923-1998)

University of Buffalo president on the occasion of Patricia James Eberlein’s death

20 Saturday Oct 2012

Posted by in Diaries, letters, and manuscripts

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University at Buffalo
State University of New York
Office of the President

September 11, 1998

The Eberlein Family
c/o Dr. Patrick B. Eberlein
Department of Mathematics
CB #3250
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC 27599

Dear Dr. Eberlein:

On behalf of the entire University at Buffalo community, please accept our heartfelt sympathies on the death of your mother. A world-renowned leader in mathematics and computer science, Pat meant a great deal to the university, as well as to me personally. Her years of dedication and work helped to build UB in many, many ways. She will be long remembered at UB as one of the pathbreaking mathematicians of her generation and—as one of the first women to take on a leadership role in computer science—a role model for many admiring students and colleagues.

Pat’s innovative research in mathematics led directly to the development of the computer—perhaps the most significant invention of the twentieth century. Her visionary leadership propelled her profession and the university into the future, creating at UB a computer science program of national standing. On a purely personal level, I have lost a good friend and colleague. One of the great pleasures of my years of service here was the opportunity to know Pat and work with her. I have missed seeing her during her retirement, and now that loss is, sadly, permanent. Know that you have my deepest personal condolences.

Pat’s contributions to our university are significant and lasting, and we are grateful to have had the privilege of her presence at UB for so many years. While we realize that words may offer little comfort at times like this, our thoughts and prayers are with you all. If there is anything that the university can do for you, please let us know.

Sincerely,

William R. Greiner

Descendant report: William Frederick Eberlein

03 Wednesday Oct 2012

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WILLIAM FREDERICK EBERLEIN was born on 25 June 1917 in Shawano, Shawano, Wisconsin, USA. He died on 13 June 1986 in Rochester, Monroe, New York, USA. He married (1) MARY BERNARDA BARRY, daughter of John Patrick Barry and Eleanor Agnes Graef on 29 May 1943 in Arlington, Arlington, Virginia, USA. She was born on 30 June 1917 in Racine, Racine, Wisconsin, USA. She died on 25 December 1960 in Brookfield, Cook, Illinois, USA. He married (2) PATRICIA BARBARA RAMSAY JAMES, daughter of William Stubbs James and Rose Ramsay on 23 June 1956 in Birmingham, Oakland, Michigan, USA. She was born on 15 July 1923 in Washington City, District Of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA. She died on 11 August 1998 in Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA.

William Frederick Eberlein and Mary Bernarda Barry had the following children:

i.    LIVING

ii.    LIVING

iii.    MICHAEL BARRY EBERLEIN was born on 20 November 1946 in Ann Arbor, Washtenaw, Michigan, USA. He died on 04 September 2012 in Fort Smith, Sebastian, Arkansas, USA. He married (1) LIVING. He married (2) LIVING.

iv.    LIVING

William Frederick Eberlein and Patricia Barbara Ramsay James had the following child:

v.    KRISTEN JAMES EBERLEIN

Patricia J. Eberlein, UB professor, computer science pioneer, dies at 75

01 Monday Oct 2012

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Patricia J. Eberlein, 75, a University of Buffalo professor emerita, mathematician and one of the nation’s earliest female computer scientists, died Tuesday (Aug.11, 1998) in her Buffalo home after a long battle with lung cancer.

Ms. Eberlein was the first and, to date, the only woman to head UB’s computer science department. She was acting chairwoman in 1971-72 and chairwoman from 1981 to 1984.

Born Patricia James in Washington, D.C., she attended the Shipley School and received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Chicago in 1944.

After a stint as a pilot flying planes from manufacturing plants to military bases during World War II, she had a brief career as a fashion model in New York City, then married and operated a ranch in South Dakota.

Divorced and the single mother of two children, she resumed her education and earned a master’s degree and doctorate at Michigan State University.

In 1956, she became a research mathematician for the Institute of Advanced Study’s Electronic Computer Project in Princeton, N.J. The computer created under this project was designed by John von Neumann, the father of modern computing, and now is in the Smithsonian Institution.

In 1957, she went to the University of Rochester, where she was a research associate and then the assistant director of analysis at the university’s computing center.

She joined UB’s new computer science department in 1967 as an associate professor, commuting from Rochester to Buffalo until she moved here in 1976. She became a full professor in 1975 and retired in 1996.

As chairwoman, she significantly increased the amount of sophisticated computer equipment in the department.

Her research specialty was numerical analysis, particularly linear algebra and combinatorial algorithms.

In 1984, she received a Visiting Professorship for Woman Award from the National Science Foundation. In 1988, she was a visiting senior scientist at Argonne National Laboratory.

She was one of the original members of the Gatlinburg group, which now numbers more than 400 researchers.

She served on several national editorial and review boards and was one of the earliest women elected to the Council of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

As a member of many professional societies, she was active in the Association for Computing Machinery, the American Mathematical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association for Women in Mathematics.

She often spoke on panels about the need to attract more women to study mathematics and computer science.

She was the widow of William Eberlein, a member of the mathematics faculty at the University of Rochester, who died in 1986.

Surviving are four daughters, Sarah Wells of Oak Park, Ill., Mary Wells of Rochester, Kristen of Durham, N.C., and Kathryn Klaber of Cleveland Heights, Ohio; three sons, Patrick of Chapel Hill, N.C., Michael of Amherst, Ohio, and Robert of Glendale [sic], Md.; a brother, William S. James of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.; 12 grandchildren; and a great granddaughter.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday in Unitarian Universalist Church, 695 Elmwood Ave.

Source:
The Buffalo News, Friday, 14 August 1998