Feit, Walter, 1930-

Walter Feit (1930-2004) was a pure mathematician who contributed to algebra, geometry, topology, number theory and logic and was the co-author of one of the most influential papers ever written on finite group theory, "Solvability of Groups of Odd Order."

Walter Feit, 1930-2004, was a pure mathematician who contributed to algebra, geometry, topology, number theory and logic and was co-author of one of the most influential papers ever written on finite group theory, “Solvability of Groups of Odd Order.” Feit was born in Vienna, but in 1939 he fled Austria for England via KinderTransport. In 1946, Feit left England for the United States to live with family in Florida. Soon after, he entered the University of Chicago and earned both his BA and Master’s degree in 1951. Feit did his Ph.D. work at the University of Michigan and joined the mathematics faculty at Cornell University in 1953. In 1964, Feit joined the mathematics faculty of Yale University, where he remained for 40 years, until his retirement in 2003. While his most famous result is the proof of the Feit-Thompson theorem, completed jointly with John G. Thompson, Feit wrote and published extensively over the years, working in finite group theory and modular character theory.

Walter Feit was awarded the Cole Prize by the American Mathematical Society in 1965 for his work with Thompson and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (1977) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Feit also served as Vice-President of the International Mathematical Union.

A digital version of Walter Feit’s Memorial Service can be found online at http://www.math.yale.edu/public_html/WalterFeit/WalterFeit.html .