Papers and correspondence of Edward Fraenkel FRS (1927-2019), mathematician

Section A, Biographical, contains family papers mainly relating to the administration of the estate of Fraenkel's parents and material relating to Fraenkel's education and career honours. The section also contains an unpublished autobiography by Gustav Fraenkel, some family photographs, and a sketch book.

Section B, Teaching, documents Fraenkel's academic teaching during his long career and covers the period from 1955 to 2009. It contains lecture notes, tutorials, exercises and solutions, examination papers, and notes arranged in chronological order. It includes material relating to Fraenkel's supervision of postgraduate students.

Section C, Research, contains extensive material relating to Fraenkel's research activities across a wide range of mathematical topics including Highest Wave, Vortex Rings and Water Entry of a Wedge, and covers the period from 1947 to 2017. The material is arranged, as far as possible, according to the structure imposed upon it by Fraenkel.

Section D, Correspondence, is mainly composed of professional correspondence, but also includes a small amount of material relating to family and friends.

Section E, Publications and Writing, is divided into two parts. The first part is a chronological sequence of off-prints, drafts, notes, and working papers relating to Fraenkel's published outputs between 1950 and 2018. The second, smaller part comprises unpublished material.

Section F, Visits, Conferences and Appointment Diaries, contains a chronological sequence of material generated as a result of Fraenkel's attendance at conferences, seminars and workshops between 1957 and 2017. The section also contains Fraenkel's pocket appointment diaries covering the period from 1954 to 2018.

There is also an index of correspondents.

Edward Fraenkel was born Ludwig Eduard Fraenkel in Kiel, Germany, on 28 May 1927, the youngest of the five children of Eduard David Mortier Fraenkel, a prominent and respected classical philologist, and Ruth Fraenkel (née von Velsen). Eduard Fraenkel came from a Jewish background; Ruth von Velsen's background was Lutheran. They were married in a civil ceremony on 2 February 1918. The family did not practice a faith, although the children were raised in a Christian manner. Anti-Semitic laws in Germany severely affected Eduard Fraenkel's career and threatened his family. He took advantage of a scheme organised by the Royal Society to assist persecuted foreign academics and through it was able to secure a post at the University of Oxford in 1934

Fraenkel attended the Dragon School in Oxford, but was evacuated to Toronto, Canada, in 1940. His host family, the Despards, had misgivings about his German name and sought his parents' permission to address him instead as Edward. Fraenkel completed his schooling at the University of Toronto Schools. He subsequently attended the University of Toronto graduating with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Aeronautical Engineering in 1947. His graduate thesis was on the design of nozzles for supersonic wind tunnels. He did not study for a PhD; he was awarded a Master of Applied Science in 1948.

Fraenkel moved back to the UK in 1948. He worked at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, Hampshire, before taking up an appointment at the University of Glasgow in 1952. After a one-year visiting professorship at California Institute of Technology, USA, Fraenkel took up a position in the Aeronautics Department at Imperial College, London. Between 1958 and 1964 he was based at Imperial College but during this time he began a career progression towards studies in pure mathematics. Later appointments included posts at the University of Cambridge (1964-1974), the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York, (1966), California Institute of Technology, (1968), and the University of Sussex, Brighton, first as visiting Professorial Research Fellow (1971, 1973-1974) and then as Professor in the Mathematics Division (1975-1988). Fraenkel officially retired early in 1982 but only with the objective of devoting more time to research. He continued at Sussex before moving to the University of Bath in 1988 where he continued working until 2005.

Fraenkel's research related mainly to problems in fluid mechanics. In the 1960s Fraenkel worked in the field of viscous flows. He was interested in finding a mathematical description of viscous flow separation from a curved boundary. During this time, he also collaborated with Milton Van Dyke on identifying conditions for correct matching of matched asymptotic expansions. In the late 1960s and 1970s he worked with Melvyn S. Berger on the problem of describing the shape of steady vortex rings. He also undertook further studies of fluid separation applying functional analytic methodologies and acting as co-organiser of an important conference on Partial Differential Equations in 1976.

Another of Fraenkel's interests was the study of the electrostatic capacity of bodies and how capacity is affected by the asymmetry of a body. He carried out notable work with his gifted student Charles Amick (1952-1991) on problems of Hill's Spherical Vortex. Over a long period of time Fraenkel made significant contributions to satisfying the long-standing problem of the Stokes conjecture or wave of extreme form, and the problem of wedge entry into water.

Fraenkel received the prestigious Senior Whitehead Prize of the London Mathematical Society in 1989. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1993.

Fraenkel is survived by his wife Beryl Fraenkel (née Currie) and their two daughters Anna and Juliet.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

SECTION A BIOGRAPHICAL A/1-A/7

SECTION B TEACHING B/1-B/8

SECTION C RESEARCH C/1-C/10

SECTION D CORRESPONDENCE D/1-D/5

SECTION E PUBLICATIONS AND WRITING E/1-E/3

SECTION F VISITS, CONFERENCES AND F/1-F/3
APPOINTMENT DIARIES

INDEX OF CORRESPONDENTS

NOT ALL THE MATERIAL IN THIS COLLECTION MAY YET BE AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATION. ENQUIRIES SHOULD BE ADDRESSED IN THE FIRST INSTANCE TO:

THE ARCHIVIST
THE LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF BATH
CLAVERTON DOWN
BATH BA2 7AY

The collection was donated to the Library in 2019 by Beryl Fraenkel (née Currie) widow of L.E. Fraenkel.

A catalogue providing full details of the archival material is available in PDF format on the University of Bath Archives and Research Collections website .

Enquiries should be made in the first instance to:

The Archivist The Library University of Bath Claverton Down Bath BA2 7AY

Email: Lizzie Richmond

Telephone: +44 (0)1225 383464

At the University of Bath website a video interview with Professor Fraenkel can be found. Click on title to view In converstation with Edward Fraenkel