Edward Odell

Edward "Ted" Odell Edward "Ted" Odell, age 65, died suddenly on Wednesday, January 9, 2013 in Houston, Texas, en route to an American Mathematical Society conference. Ted was born on March 15, 1947 to Elsie Jacobson and Edward W. Odell of Pleasantville, New York. Ted received his Ph.D. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1975 and his B.S. degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1969. After a post-doc at Yale University, Ted moved to Austin in 1977 with his wife Gail to take a faculty position in the Mathematics Department at the University of Texas at Austin. He was Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies and the John T. Stuart III Centennial Professor of Mathematics. Ted was a highly regarded research mathematician and was one of the leading researchers in the area of Banach Spaces, a branch of Functional Analysis. At the same time, he also loved teaching and worked hard to improve undergraduate education at the University. Ted was a highly regarded instructor who used the "Moore Method," a Socratic method of teaching mathematics. He authored numerous research papers and books. Ted was very devoted and loving to his entire family. He is survived by his wife of 44 years Gail, daughter and son-in-law Holly and Mark Monti, daughter Amy and boyfriend Rick Goldberg, sister and brother-in-law Carol and Al McCrackan, brother-in-law Jerry Topper, nephews and nieces Michael and Mindy McCrackan, Eric and Mary McCrackan, Heidi and Tracy Karagianis, David and Sharon Topper, and many other relatives, friends and colleagues who all loved him dearly. A celebration of Ted Odell's life will be held at 3:30pm on Saturday, January 19, 2013, on the UT Campus (Main Building, Room 212).