Under-represented Then Over-represented: A Memoir of Jews in American Mathematics

Abstract

Summary“Over-representation” of Jews in the world of mathematics is a common observation, but rarely discussed in print. In response to a new book on the subject by Ioan James, this paper recounts the author's own interaction with Jewish over-representation at universities in the U.S., and also gives information about Hungary and Italy. The contrast with the drastic under-representation of Jews in U.S. mathematics in the 1920′s and 30′s is discussed and an explanation is given of how under-representation became over-representation and how presently this over-representation is fading away.