In Memorium: David G. Mead

November 05, 2016

David G. Mead passed away on September 19, 2016, at the age of 94.

An old black and white photo of 3 younger men leaning against a 1940s era car. — David Mead, Burr Mead, and Charlie Mengers in New Jersey, August 10, 1946.

He began study at Columbia University in New York, but delayed his degree with the start of World War II. He served as a sergeant in the US Army in the Pacific theater. When David returned after his honorable discharge in 1946, he earned his Ph.D. in 1959 with the dissertation Linear and Nonlinear Differential Polynomials. He met his wife, Alba Saba, while at Columbia, and began his teaching career there.

Later he taught at Santa Clara University before joining Mathematics at UC Davis. He valued education, receiving the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1987, and was recognized as a distinguished professor. He had numerous other academic awards and accomplishments. David served several terms as the Department Chair.

Though retired for many years, he was still publishing papers in 1998, writing a joint publication with Sherman Stein in the Rocky Mountain Journal of Mathematics on the field generated by two or three Newton polynomials in two variables.

An elderly David Mead stands in the foreground, with the crenellations of the Great Wall of China and several tourists walking behind him. In the distance, a cablecar hangs in front of trees. — David Mead at the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China.

After leaving college teaching, he wanted to continue with education, and tutored elementary students. He remained very active throughout his life, even into his 90s.

David donated his remains to the UC Davis Body Donation Program for research. UC Davis scatters the remains of donors off of the coast of San Francisco and holds a memorial service in remembrance of program participants each year. There is also a memorial site located on the UC Davis campus that can be visited at any time by family and friends.