Joseph Leo Doob

Joseph Leo Doob (February 27, 1910–June 7, 2004) was an American mathematician, specializing in analysis and probability theory. The theory of martingales was developed by Doob. Doob was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, February 27, 1910, the son of Leo Doob and Mollie Doerfler Doob. The family moved to New York City before he was three years old. The parents felt that he was "under-achieving" in grade school and placed him in the Ethical Culture School... more

Joseph Leo Doob (February 27, 1910–June 7, 2004) was an American mathematician, specializing in analysis and probability theory. The theory of martingales was developed by Doob. Doob was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, February 27, 1910, the son of Leo Doob and Mollie Doerfler Doob. The family moved to New York City before he was three years old. The parents felt that he was "under-achieving" in grade school and placed him in the Ethical Culture School, from which he graduated in 1926. He then went on to Harvard where he received a BA in 1930, an MA in 1931, and a PhD in 1932. After postdoctoral research at Columbia and Princeton, he joined the Department of Mathematics of the University of Illinois in 1935 and served until his retirement in 1978. He was a member of the Urbana campus's Center for Advanced Study from its beginning in 1959. During the Second World War, he worked in Washington, D. C. and Guam as a civilian consultant to the Navy. Doob's thesis was on boundary values of... less