urn:taro:utexas.cah.00433 A Guide to the Walter Feit Papers, 1933-2005 July 7, 2005Encoded in XMetal 2 by Nikki Thomas according to instructions in TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions. Descriptive Summary Feit, Walter, 1930- Walter Feit Papers 1933-2005Materials are written in English. 2005-122 3 ft., 4in. Archives of American Mathematics, Center for American History,The University of Texas at Austin 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.” Correspondence and other printed material, including preprints, reprints and manuscripts, make up the bulk of this collection. Biographical Note

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.

 Scope and Contents

Correspondence and other printed material, including preprints, reprints and manuscripts, make up the bulk of this collection. The collection contains a wealth (9 in.) of correspondence between Feit and John G. Thompson, primarily mathematical in nature, but also covering more personal topics. Papers, preprints and reprints comprise approximately 10 inches of the collection, although most reprints are included in duplicate, when available. Of particular biographical relevance are the materials related to Walter Feit’s memorial service, as they include memoirs of his life in Vienna and England.

Also included in the collection are materials from Richard Brauer (1901-1977), mathematician and Walter Feit’s mentor. Of note, are bound class notes given to Feit by a student of Brauer.

Original file titles were retained when possible. File titles created by the archivist are enclosed in square brackets.

Forms part of the Archives of American Mathematics

 Access Restrictions

Restricted access. Materials from Geoffrey Robinson are restricted as they pertain to yet to be published matters. Portions of the correspondence have been restricted until 2020. Digital media is also restricted. All other materials are unrestricted.

 Preferred Citation

Walter Feit Papers, 1933-2005, the Center for American History, Archives of American Mathematics, The University of Texas at Austin.

 Index Terms Brauer, Richard, 1901- Feit, Walter, 1930- Serre, Jean Pierre, 1926- Thompson, John Griggs, 1932- Feit-Thompson theorem Finite groups Detailed Description of the Papers Correspondence: 4RM119 E-mails with Jean-Pierre Serre, 2000-2005 4RM85 Restricted: Serre e-mail file, 3.5" disk, 2000-2005 4RM119 With John-Pierre Serre, 1971-2000 and undated 4RM119 With John G. Thompson: 4RM119 1959-1969 4RM119 1970-1979 4RM119 1980-1982 4RM119 1983 4RM120 1984-1985 4RM120 1986-1987 4RM120 1988-1989 4RM120 1990-1993 4RM120 1994-2002 4RM121 Email, undated 4RM85 Restricted: 4RM85 E-mail, undated 4RM85 Thompson-Feit e-mail, 3.5" disk, undated 4RM121 Feedback sent to authors, 1991-1995 4RM121 Hardy Lectures, 1992-1993 4RM121 Journal of Algebra, 1984-1991 4RM121 Nomination of Efim Zelmanov for a Fields Medal, 1991-1992 and undated 4RM121 With publishers, 1971-1981 and undated 4RM121 [Rackham School of Graduate Studies], 1988 and undated 4RM112 Three photos of Walter Feit, undated 4RM121 Incoming, 1963-1985 4RM121 General correspondence, 1954-1997 and undated 4RM55a Computer printout of decomposition matrices from Concordia University Computer Center, November 2, 1979 4RM122 General correspondence, 1954-1997 and undated Papers: 4RM122 "Applications of the Classification of Simple Groups to Mondromy," undated 4RM122 Foreword to the papers on finite group theory in Burnside's collected works, undated 4RM122 "A New Congruence for the Ramanujan Function [?]," undated 4RM122 [Untitled manuscript], undated Preprints: 4RM122 "Classifying the Finite Simple Groups," Daniel Gorenstein, 1989 and undated 4RM122 "Defect Groups in the Theory of Representations of Finite Groups," Richard Brauer, 1969 4RM122 "On Groups of Odd Order," undated 4RM122 "A Solvability Criterion for Groups of Odd Order," undated Reprints: 4RM123 1950s, 1953-1959 4RM123 1960s, 1960-1967 4RM123 1970s, 1970-1979 4RM123 1980s, 1980-1989 4RM124 1990s, 1990-1999 4RM124 2000s, 2000-2003 4RM124 [Undated], undated 4RM124 “Solvability of Groups of Odd Order” in Pacific Journal of Mathematics, Volume 13, No. 3, Fall 1963 Lectures: 4RM113 Restricted: Feit lecture, digital videocassette, undated 4RM124 Group Theory Seminar lectures, 1960-1961, 1961 4RM124 History of Algebra Symposium, 1975 4RM9a History of Algebra Symposium, two audiocassettes, 1975 4RM124 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 1972-1974 4RM124 Proceedings of Symposia in Pure Mathematics, Volume IV: 1960 Institute on Finite Groups, 1962 4RM124 Proceedings of the Third Pan-African Congress of Mathematicians (August 20-28, 1991, Nairobi Kenya), 1991 Conferences, delegations and visiting appointments: 4RM124 All Souls College, 1988-1990 4RM124 Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People's Republic of China, 1977 4RM124 Newton Institute, 1995-1997 and undated 4RM124 George Seligman's Birthday Conference on Structure and Representation Theory of Lie Algebras, 1990-1992 4RM124 Thompson Conference, 2002 and undated 4RM125 Interview with Walter Feit in Matemática Universitária, 1987-1988 4RM125 "A Short History of the Burnside Problem," undated 4RM125 Daniel Gorenstein, 1992 and undated 4RM127 Restricted: Geoffrey Robinson, 1984-1993 and undated 4RM125 National Science Foundation, Division of Mathematical Sciences, Awards in algebra and number theory, 1987-1988 4RM125 Tributes and dedications, 1989-1990, 2003 and undated 4RM125 Early years, 1941-1944, 2000 4RM125 Feit Memorial Service, October 10, 2004 4RM85 Restricted: Feit Memorial Service, CD-ROM, October 10, 2004 4RM125 Memorials [includes obituaries], 1994-2004 4RM125 Odd and interesting [includes correspondence and printed matter], 1955, 1983-1996 Brauer materials: 4RM125 Correspondence, 1954-1977 4RM125 [Technical report], undated 4RM125 Gottnigen, 1964-1965, undated 4RM125 Lectures, undated 4RM125 Differential equations, undated 4RM125 Unsolved problems - NY, undated 4RM125 [Notes for C], undated 4RM125 Unsolved problems - Bowdoin, undated 4RM125 Unsolved problems, undated 4RM125 Early talks, 1946 and undated 4RM125 Lectures, class, etc., 1933-1939 and undated 4RM126 Unsolved problems, undated 4RM126 [Untitled paper with corrections], undated 4RM126 "On finite projective groups," 1979 and undated 4RM126 [Assorted notes], undated 4RM126 Class notes: 4RM126 Rings and Algebras, undated 4RM126 Galois Theory, undated