R.H. Bing as a young man, taken by Brack's Studio, San Marcos, Texas, undated. From the R.H. Bing Papers, Archives of American Mathematics, Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
A highlight of the holdings at the Archives of American Mathematics (AAM) is the collection of papers of former MAA president R. H. Bing.
Bing was born in Oakwood, Texas, on October 20, l914. He graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers College, San Marcos, in 1935 and, after several years as a high school mathematics teacher, began his graduate study at the University of Texas at Austin under R. L. Moore, receiving his doctorate in 1945. In 1947 he accepted a position at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he remained until returning to the University of Texas in 1973. Bing was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1965 (council member, 1970-1980), and was a member of the National Science Board (1968-1974) and of the National Research Council governing board (1977-1980). He was active in several mathematical organizations, including the Mathematical Association of America (president, 1963-1964), the American Mathematical Society (president, 1977-1978), the Council Board for the Mathematical Sciences (chairman, 1965-1966), the Mathematical Sciences Section of the National Academy of Sciences (chairman, 1970-1973), and the Division of Mathematical Sciences of the National Research Council (1967-1969). In 1974 he received the Mathematical Association of America Award for Distinguished Service to Mathematics.
Bing’s research concentrated on the geometric topology of 3-manifolds, particularly their pathology. His side approximation theorem for 2-spheres in Euclidean 3-space and his “Bing shrinking” procedure have been generalized to higher dimensional manifolds. Bing summarized the field in his The Geometric Topology of 3-Manifolds (1983).
The Bing papers at the AAM primarily contain material from his years at the University of Texas at Austin (1973-1986), including Bing’s work in preserving the papers of R. L. Moore, records of the formation of the Archives of American Mathematics, and the preparation of an unpublished Moore memorial volume. Bing’s services to the scientific and mathematical communities are documented by records of his work for the National Academy of Sciences, the National Research Council, and various topology conferences and institutes. Bing’s topological work is chiefly reflected in manuscript material and dittoed preprints (with annotations) of his The Geometric Topology of 3-Manifolds (1983). In addition to manuscript material, many photographs are included in this collection.
A portion of R. H. Bing’s papers are in the Archives of Texas State University (formerly Southwest Texas State University). The inventory of the R. H. Bing Papers at the Archives for American Mathematics is available online at: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/00222/cah-00222.html.
The Archives of American Mathematics is located at the Research and Collections division of the Center for American History on the University of Texas at Austin campus. Persons interested in conducting research or donating materials or who have general questions about the Archives of American Mathematics should contact Kristy Sorensen, Archivist, k.sorensen@mail.utexas.edu, (512) 495-4539. The Archives Web page can be accessed at: http://www.cah.utexas.edu/collectioncomponents/math.html.