Frederick William Gehring, Life and Mathematics

Abstract

Frederick William Gehring was a hugely influential mathematician who spent most of his career at the University of Michigan. Gehring's major research contributions were to Geometric Function Theory, particularly in higher dimensions $\IR^n$, $n\geq 3$. This field he developed in close coordination with colleagues, primarily in Finland, over three decades 1960 -- 1990. Gehring's seminal work drove this field forward initiating important connections with geometry and nonlinear partial differential equations, while addressing and solving major problems. During his career Gehring received many honours from the international mathematical community. He was invited three times to address the International Congress of Mathematicians, at Moscow in 1966, at Vancouver in 1974, and at Berkeley (a plenary lecture) in 1986. He was awarded honorary degrees from the University of Helsinki (1979), the University of Jyv\"askyl\"a (1990), and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (1997). In 1989, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. This is an extended obituary of his life and mathematical contributions.