WILLERS

GERMANY (see also List of Individuals)

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29.1.1883 Bremervörde/D - 5.1.1959 Dresden/D

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Friedrich-Adolf Willers graduated in 1905 as a mathematician from Jena University and continued his career with the mathematician Runge at Göttingen University, where he submitted a PhD thesis in 1906. After years as a teacher at various colleges he submitted an habilitation thesis to Berlin Technical University in 1923. In 1928 he was appointed professor of mathematics and geometry at Freiberg University in Saxony. He was retired in 1934 due to his political conviction and appointed only in 1944 professor of applied mathematics at Dresden Technical University thereby succeeeding Max Lagally (1881-1945). Willers was awarded the Honorary Doctorate from the Technical University of Darmstadt in 1953.

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Willers is known for books relating to elementary mathematics. He presented a book relating to the mathematical methods for the integration of differential equations that was a standard work from 1930 to his death. Willers was also interested in mathematical instruments. He was involved in the editorship of the journal Zeitschrift für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik ZAMM already in the 1930s, and took over as its editor once his colleague Erich Trefftz (1888-1937) had passed away. During the following twenty-two years, Willers handled some 1,400 manuscripts and he was proud that this significant journal survived World War II and that the Akademie-Verlag of Leipzig had considered its rebirth. The journal continues to be successful until today. From 1952, Willers was a Member of the German Association of Natural Scientists Leopoldina in Halle, and shortly later of the Academy of Sciences of Saxony, in Leipzig. He was awarded the National Prize by the German Democratic Republic and was from 1955 a Corresponding Member of the German Academy of Sciences, Berlin.

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_{Anonymous (1953). Friedrich-Adolf Willers. Festschrift 125 Jahre Technische Hochschule Dresden: 204. TH: Dresden. P}

_{Keller, O.-H. (1961). Friedrich-Adolf Willers. Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften Leipzig Jahrbuch 1957-1959: 359-361. P}

_{Poggendorff, J.C. (1936). Willers, Friedrich-Adolf. Biographisch-Literarisches Handwörterbuch}

_{6: 2889; 7a: 1012-1013. Verlag Chemie: Leipzig, Berlin, with bibliography. Sauer, R., Heinrich, H. (1960). Friedrich Adolf Willers. ZAMM 40(1/3): 1-8. P Willers, F.A. (1923). Numerische Integration. de Gruyter: Berlin.}

_{Willers, F.A. (1928). Methoden der praktischen Analysis. de Gruyter: Berlin. Willers, F.A. (1943). Mathematische Instrumente. Oldenbourg: München.}