Hans Sagan
Born: Feb 16, 1928, Vienna, Austria; Died: April 4, 2000, Raleigh, NC.
Dr. Sagan was born, reared, and educated in Vienna Austria. His dissertation at the University of Vienna was on the Calculus of Variations and he was awarded a Ph.D. degree On July 15, 1950. Shortly after he accepted a scientific assistantship at the 2nd Institute of mathematics at the University of Technology in Vienna. He resigned that position in May 1954 to join the Montana State University faculty. Three years later he accepted an associate professorship at the University of Idaho and was promoted to professor and head of the department after four years. In 1963 he accepted a professorship at the North Carolina State University which he held until his retirement in January 1994.
Professor Sagan was presented the Outstanding Faculty Award in 1959-60 and again in 1960-61 while at the University of Idaho. In 1966 he received the Poteat Award from the North Carolina Academy of Science. From 1965 to 1974 he held a research contract in Optimal Control Theory form NASA. From 1963 to 1973 Sagan was Associate Editor of the Mathematics Magazine. He was a member and secretary of the MAA Committee on the National Mathematics Contest and a Visiting MAA Lecturer for many years. In 1994 he was elected to the scientific advisory board of the Manatshefte für Mathematik.
Professor Sagan directed six Ph.D. dissertations and numerous Master's theses. He has published papers on the Calculus of Variations, Optimal Control Theory, Differential Geometry, Probability Theory, Operations Research and Space-Filling Curves. In addition he is the author of nine books (two with co-authors): on Laplace Transforms, Boundary and Eigenvalue Problems, Calculus, Advanced Calculus, Calculus of Variations, Space-Filling Curves and three books on the use of computers in mathematics. He was active as referee for American as well as European and Asian journals and wrote 46 book reviews for 7 journals. He wrote the commentary on J. Radon's contributions to the Calculus of Variations for Radon's Collected Works, on H. Hahn's contributions to the Theory of Curves for Hahn's Collected Works, and on Karl Menger's involvement with the Calculus of Variations for Menger's Collected Works.
Hans Sagan was a dynamic, vibrant person and could be counted on to have a lively discussion on almost any topic. From 1978 to 1986, Sagan was editor of the annual newsletter of the Mathematical Department called the Harrelson News. His flair for writing shows up in several biographies written by him which can be seen in the biographies section. He also sometimes expressed some his somewhat controversial views on university life in his editorials in the Harrelson News.
In addition to Dr. Sagan's professional interests he was a classical
music and opera enthusiast. He was quite knowledgeable about these subjects and he and his wife,
Inge, seldom missed performances in the Research Triangle area. During their yearly trips to
Vienna, attending concerts and opera was always a high priority.
Sagan relaxing on the range