Thomas J. Osler

Thomas Joseph Osler (April 26, 1940 – March 26, 2023) was an American mathematician, national champion distance runner, and author.

Thomas J. Osler
Osler at whiteboard in 2020
Born(1940-04-26)April 26, 1940
Camden, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedMarch 26, 2023(2023-03-26) (aged 82)
Alma mater
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsRowan University

Early life and education

Born in 1940 in Camden, New Jersey,[1] Osler was a graduate of Camden High School in 1957 and then studied physics at Drexel University, graduating in 1962.[2][3] He completed his PhD at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University,[4] in 1970. His dissertation, Leibniz Rule, the Chain Rule, and Taylor's Theorem for Fractional Derivatives, was supervised by Samuel Karp.[5]

Career

Osler taught at Saint Joseph's University and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute[6] before joining the mathematics department at Rowan University in New Jersey in 1972;[7] he was a full professor at Rowan University until his death.[4]

In mathematics, Osler is best known for his work on fractional calculus.[8][9][10] He also gave a series of product formulas for that interpolate between the formula of Viète and that of Wallis.[11]

In 2009, the New Jersey Section of the Mathematical Association of America gave him their Distinguished Teaching Award.[12][13] A mathematics conference was held at Rowan University in honor of his 70th birthday in 2010.[6]

Running

Osler won three national Amateur Athletic Union championships at 25 km (1965), 30 km and 50 mi (1967).[14][15] Osler won the 1965 Philadelphia Marathon, finishing the race in freezing-cold weather in a time of 2:34:07.[16] In the course of his career he has won races of nearly every length from one mile to 100 miles.

Osler during 50-mile track race at Fort Meade in 1975

Osler was involved in the creation of the Road Runners Club of America with Olympian Browning Ross; together they were elected as co-secretaries in 1959[17] and were among the four first official elected officers of the newly formed club.[18] He served on the Amateur Athletic Union Standards Committee in 1979.[19] He has been credited with helping to popularize the idea of walk breaks among US marathon runners.[1][3]

In 1980, Osler was inducted into the Road Runners Club of America Hall of fame.[17][20]

Running publications

Osler was the author of several books and booklets on running:

  • Guide to Long Distance Running (a 20-page booklet coauthored with Edward Dodd) was published in 1965 by the South Jersey Track Club.[21]
  • The Conditioning of Distance Runners (a 29-page booklet) was published in 1967 by the Long Distance Log.[1][3][21] It was reprinted in 1984–1985 in Runner's World magazine[22][23] and reprinted with a new foreword by Amby Burfoot in 2019.[24]
  • Serious Runner's Handbook: Answers to Hundreds of your Running Questions (187 pages) was published by World Publications in 1978.[25]
  • Ultramarathoning: The Next Challenge (299 pages, coauthored with Edward Dodd) was also published by World Publications, in 1979.[26]

Personal life and death

Osler was a resident of Glassboro, New Jersey.[12]

Osler died on March 26, 2023, at the age of 82.[27]

References
  1. Benyo, Richard; Henderson, Joe (2002). ""Tom Osler"". Running Encyclopedia. Human Kinetics. ISBN 0736037349.
  2. "It All Adds Up: Running, teaching and math". Rowan Today. Rowan University. September 16, 2009.
  3. Englehart, Richard (September 2008). "Like a Cat Chases Mice". Marathon & Beyond.
  4. "Tom Osler, PhD". Faculty and Staff. Rowan University Mathematics Department. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  5. Thomas J. Osler at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  6. "Oslerfest: Prominent mathematicians to pay tribute to legendary Rowan prof". Rowan Today. Rowan University. April 12, 2010.
  7. "Osler honored for distinguished teaching by Mathematical Association of America". Rowan Today. Rowan University. April 17, 2009.
  8. Yang, Xiao-Jun; Gao, Feng; Ju, Yang (2020). "Section 2.3: Osler fractional calculus". General Fractional Derivatives with Applications in Viscoelasticity. Academic Press. pp. 107–111. ISBN 9780128172094.
  9. Almeida, Ricardo (2019). "Further properties of Osler's generalized fractional integrals and derivatives with respect to another function". The Rocky Mountain Journal of Mathematics. 49 (8): 2459–2493. doi:10.1216/RMJ-2019-49-8-2459. hdl:10773/27488. MR 4058333. S2CID 214139065.
  10. Nishimoto, Katsuyuki (1977). "Osler's cut and Nishimoto's cut". Journal of the College of Engineering of Nihon University, Series B. 18: 9–13. MR 0486359.
  11. Arndt, Jörg; Haenel, Christoph (2001). "12.8 Viète ✕ Wallis = Osler". π Unleashed. Berlin Heidelberg New York: Springer-Verlag. pp. 160–162. ISBN 3-540-66572-2.
  12. Shryock, Bob (May 7, 2009). "Running Man". South Jersey Times.
  13. "New Jersey Section Archives". Mathematical Association of America. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  14. "United States Champions (with Local Connections)". Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  15. United States Championships (Men). GBR Athletics. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  16. "Osler Captures Phila. Marathon", Asbury Park Press, December 27, 1965. Accessed November 24, 2020. "Philadelphia – Tom Osler of the South Jersey Track Club, 25-year-old New York University graduate student from Camden, N.J., scored an easy victory in the Ruthrauff Marathon race yesterday through Fairmount Park. Osier braved sub-freezing temperatures and stiff winds to cover the 26 miles, 385 yards in two hours, 34 minutes and seven seconds."
  17. "History of Road Runners Club of America" (PDF). Road Runners Club of America. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  18. "50th Anniversary Report". Road Runners Club of America. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  19. "Pertinent Trivia" (PDF). Measurement News (88): 14. March 1988.
  20. "Distance Running History". Road Runner's Club of America. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  21. Morison, Ray Leon (June 1975). An Annotated Bibliography of Track and Field Books Published in the United States Between 1960–1974 (PDF) (Master's thesis). San Jose State University. pp. 23, 33 – via Education Resources Information Center.
  22. Osler, Tom (December 1984). "The Conditioning of Distance Runners (part 1)". Runner's World: 52–57, 87.
  23. Osler, Tom (January 1985). "The Conditioning of Distance Runners (part 2)". Runner's World: 44–47, 80.
  24. Osler, Thomas J. (1967). The Conditioning of Distance Runners (2019 ed.). Y42K Publishing. ISBN 9781710036725.
  25. Osler, Tom (1978). Serious Runner's Handbook: Answers to Hundreds of Your Running Questions. Mountain View, California, USA: World Publications, Inc. ISBN 0-89037-126-1. Briefly reviewed in "Books". The Marine Corps Gazette. 1978. pp. 57–60; see in particular p. 59.
  26. Osler, Tom; Dodd, Ed (1979). Ultramarathoning: The Next Challenge. Mountain View, California, USA: World Publications, Inc. ISBN 0-89037-169-5. See also Edwards, Sally (September 1983). "Ultramarathoning—A Dying Sport". UltraRunning Magazine. The book Ultramarathoning by Tom Osler and Ed Dodd had a shelf life of about 2 years, with 6,000 copies printed before the publisher (World Publications) discontinued it.
  27. "Thomas J. Osler". South Jersey Times. March 27, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2023 – via Legacy.com.
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