Tarski, Alfred

Alfred Tarski, original name Alfred Tajtelbaum, Tajtelbaum also spelled Teitelbaum, (born January 14, 1901, Warsaw, Poland, Russian Empire—died October 26, 1983, Berkeley, California, U.S.), Polish-born American mathematician and logician who made important studies of general algebra, measure theory, mathematical logic, set theory, and metamathematics.

Tarski completed his education at the University of Warsaw (Ph.D., 1923). He taught in Warsaw until 1939, when he moved to the United States (becoming a naturalized citizen in 1945). He joined the staff of the University of California at Berkeley in 1942, was appointed professor of mathematics (1949), and was research professor of the Miller Institute of Basic Research in Science there (1958–60). In succeeding years he was responsible for influencing the careers of many mathematics students. He became emeritus in 1968. He wrote a number of works on algebra, geometry, and logic.