Cairns, Stewart S. (Stewart Scott)

Stewart S. Cairns (1904-1982) was a notable mathematician who worked chiefly in the fields of geometry and topology. After receiving his Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard University in 1931 for his dissertation, "The Cellular Division and Approximation of Regular Spreads," Cairns went on to teach at several universities including the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was Professor of Mathematics from 1948 until his retirement in 1972.

From the guide to the S. S. Cairns Collection 2006-240., 1979, (Archives of American Mathematics, Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)