Ed Effros Memorial Website

Ed Effros: Biography

Ed Effros was born in Queens and grew up in Great Neck, NY.  One of his earliest memories was in the 5th grade, when the teacher taught an old trick for checking a long column of addition called “casting out nines”. Ed was mesmerized by this apparent “magic” and from that moment on, his ambition was to become a mathematician.  

Ed managed to finish MIT in 3 years, and then earned his PhD at Harvard in 1962 under the direction of George Mackey.  After a post-doc at Columbia, he moved to the University of Pennsylvania. In May, 1967, he met Rita on a blind date, and they married 4 months later. It was in Philadelphia that their children, Rachel and Steve, were born and where Ed encouraged Rita to pursue a graduate degree in Immunology at Penn.  In 1979, the family relocated to LA, where Ed had been recruited by the UCLA mathematics department, and Rita eventually joined the faculty of the Geffen School of Medicine.  Ed retired in 2013 becoming a Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus.  In June 2019, Ed and Rita moved to Portland, OR to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

Over the years, Ed and his family have done an amazing amount of travel, both for pleasure and also relating to the fields of math and immunology. They have visited/lived in places all over the world, including Berkeley, Paris, Oslo, Istanbul, Beijing, Hong Kong, Copenhagen, Stockholm, New Zealand, Warwick, Japan, Sicily, Montenegro, Croatia, Italy, Wales, and Israel.

Ed is survived by his wife of 52 years, Rita; daughter, Dr. Rachel Effros; son, Stephen Effros; daughter-in-law, Suzanne Effros; granddaughters, Lila and Eva; brothers, Dr. Richard Effros (wife, Gail) and Robert Effros; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins; and many dear friends.

Ed Effros served as a PhD supervisor for 16 students, and has authored or co-authored over 80 publications, which are listed below.

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