Francis Edgar Johnston

Dr. Francis Edgar Johnston (1897–1978) was a “scholar and teacher during a period of 36 years” at The George Washington University.

Life and teaching

This Professor was known to be a “forceful teacher” and alumnus who greatly contributed to our University. He was born on April 24, 1897 in Alexandria, Virginia. He married a woman named Sage Hildreth (later Sage Hildfreth Johnston). Although they did not have any children together, Sage had a son from her first marriage therefore Francis had a stepson Dr. Aruthur McLean Hildreth (and later on he had three step grandchildren).

Not only did Francis teach classes from the freshman to graduate level such as “The Theory of Equations”, “Advanced Algebra” and “Solid Analytic Geometry” but also he directed one thesis and many master degree theses. He was known around campus to be a great mathematician, “his scholarship covered a broad segment of mathematical knowledge”. Francis “graduated from The George Washington University with distinction” (Carrol, Thomas H.) The quote next to his yearbook photo read, “Francis is one of those rare articles- a real Virginian. His chief characteristic is that he always has a good word to say for everyone, but never tells a thing about himself”. When Francis was an undergraduate student at G.W. he was very involved. He was president of the Literary Society (1920), an Enosinian, “one of George Washington University’s oldest and most storied student organizations.” You join this society if you would like to participate in “debate and reasoned discussion.” (1921), he was part of the Colombian College Debating Society (1916), and part of “the players” (1915). Dr. Johnston received his bachelor degree from The George Washington University and then got his masters and doctorate at the University of Illinois. His PhD dissertation was on “Transitive Substitution Groups Containing Regular Subgroups of Lower Degree” which was advised by Dr. George Miller, who received his PhD from Cumberland University in 1892. Miller had many students besides Johnston; he advised twelve PhDs while at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Cornell University from 1902-1927.

After Johnston finished his PhD, he was an assistant at University of Illinois from 1921-1921 and then an instructor (or professor) from 1926-1928. When he came to The George Washington University he began as an assistant professor of mathematics from 1928-1931. Then Dr. Johnston became an associate professor of mathematics in 1931 and continued this position until 1938. Finally, he was a professor of mathematics from 1938 until his retirement in 1964. During his time at GWU he advised two students while getting their PhD’s, the students were Abraham Sinkov, whose dissertation was “Families of groups generated by two operators of the same orders” in 1933 and Robert Shaw, whose dissertation was, “On the proof of a theorem of Frobenius without the use of group characters” in 1952.

Famous students

His student Abraham Sinkov went on to be a famous mathematician. Abraham Sinkov is very well known. Born in 1907 in Philadelphia, but grew up in Brooklyn. After getting his PhD Mr. Sinkov taught in New York City schools but did not enjoy this because the conditions were not very good and he wanted “to use his mathematics knowledge in practical ways”(wikipedia). He had many students; he overlooked five PhD’s while teaching at Arizona State University from 1969-1973. His students were Roman Kaluzniacki 1969 whose dissertation was “On Defining LF(2,N) as a Quotient Group of (2,3,N)”, Edwin Annavender 1971 who wrote “Determinations of the Finite Groups Having Eight Conjugate Classes”, Glenn Dunlap 1971, Thomas Lorig 1973 who wrote “Principal Convergence Factor Groups of the Modular Group”, and lastly John Pellegrin 1973 whose dissertation was “Principal Convergence Factor Groups of the Modular Group”. Sinkov contributed to the world of Mathematics. He went on to write three different publications on top of his dissertation. These articles are “The number of abstract definitions of LF(2,p) as a quotient group of (2 ,3,n)”, “On the group-defining relations (2, 3, 7; p) and “A note on a paper by J. A. Todd” where Sinkov informs us that “The defining relations given by J. A. Todd for the abstract groups LF(2, pⁿ) may be considerably simplified” . He also wrote a book titled “Elementary cryptanalysis: a mathematical approach” published by the Mathematical Association of America, Washington, D.C.

Mathematics at G.W. during the time of Francis Edgar Johnston

From the time he started to the time he finished, classes were evolving and changing. In 1938-39, there was a school of Economics. Classes such as “Public Finance and Taxation”, “”Monetary Reform and Central Banking” or “Economic Geography” were offered. In the mathematics department there were three groups of classes that you could take. The first group included classes such as “solid geometry” and “plane analytic geometry”. The second group included “the theory of equations” and “advanced algebra”. The third group included “theory of functions of a real variable” and “the theory of finite groups”. During this time there were only four professors who taught these courses. There was one professor at each “level”; one executive professor, one general professor (during this time that was Francis Edgar Johnston’s job) one associate professor and one instructor.

From 1950-51 math was divided into two groups of classes. The first group included geometry classes, as in years past, but also included “differential calculus” and “college algebra”. The second group consisted of classes like “mathematics for engineers and scientists” and “the theory of equations”. One would assume that the first group of classes are more introductory, and the second group are more challenging courses. Compared to years past, there were many more math professors hired to work at G.W. In 1950 there were seven mathematics professors, one executive professor two regular professors one assistant professor and three lectures. At this time at The George Washington University, there was a mathematics club for students. To get a degree at The George Washington University in 1950, it was $360.00. Each credit hour was $12.00. When I read these numbers I couldn’t believe it, considering 50 or so years later the tuition is approximately $40,392. ( 2 )

In 1966–67, towards the end of Francis Johnston’s career as a Professor the Math department had greatly expanded. There were two majors and two master degrees offered from the Math department; the majors were mathematics and mathematical studies and the masters were mathematical statistics and mathematics. There was graduate mathematics work offered as well as a master of science. During the mid sixties there were five main professors, three associate professors, 4 lecturers, two associate professor lectures, 6 assistant professorial lectures, and three assistant professors. As you can see, the school greatly increased the amount of math professors at G.W. during this time. Since there were numerous Professors in the math department, a variety of new courses were introduced. The courses were once again broken down into three groups, or levels, of classes. There were twelve courses offered at the introductory or first level, sixteen in the second level, and twenty-nine in the third and final level along with one summer program. As you can see, mathematics over the years progressed and expanded. Dr. Johnston was a Professor at The George Washington University through a time of change.

Retirement

After retiring Dr.Johnston was named Professor Emeritus of Mathematics. While he was teaching at G.W., Johnston was an advisor to undergraduate students, a consultant to candidates for doctorate degrees, and a member of many University run committees. While teaching at The George Washington University Dr. Johnston became the “author of a widely-used college textbook in mathematics” called Introductory College Mathematics, published in 1936 and published a nine-page journal article in the American Scientist titled The Postulation Treatment of Mathematics as exemplified in Theory of Groups. He “brought prestige to himself and to the University”.

Just before retirement, Dr. Johnston had a falling out with the University. He wrote to the President of the University at the time, Thomas Carroll. It seems that he had tried to withdraw midway through his year in ‘63; the letter of withdrawal was dated in November. Johnston stated, “After an interview with the dean of facilities last September when he made most emphatic and discourteous remarks about my age”, the man he was referring to told him that at the age of 65 he should not be teaching any longer. Johnston goes on to say that he “shall leave the Department of Mathematics in February with the deepest affection for you and appreciation for what you have done for the university”.

Death

Dr. Francis Edgar Johnston died March 2, 1978 at his Rockville, Maryland home. The Washington Post printed an article, “Francis Johnston, 80, mathematics professor at GWU” about his death, highlighting the accomplishments of his life. Dr. Johnson had many accomplishments throughout his life. He was part of many professional clubs and societies: The Washington Academy of Science, The American Association for the advancement of Science, The Mathematical Association of America, American mathematical Society, The American Association of University Professors, and he was asked to be part of the national honorary science club Sigma Xi. Sigma Xi was created to “encourage original investigation in science pure and applied” In addition to this long list of clubs Dr. Johnston was involved with; he was not only a member but also the president of the Philosophical Society of Washington. This extensive list of clubs he was part of showed his passion and commitment to mathematics. Mr. Carroll boasts, “he reflected credit on himself and the University locally, regionally, and nationally”.

Citation

• 1."Abraham Sinkov." wikipedia 14 Nov 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Sinkov>.
• 2.American Mathematical Society, "Sinkov." MathSciNet 14 Nov 2008 <http://www.ams.org/mathscinet/search/publications.html?pg1=INDI&s1=540360>.
• 3.American Scientist January 1945, p.39-48
• 4.Departmental files, RG4, Box 70, Folder 5, Vice President for Academic Affairs Records, University Archives, Special Collections Research Center, George Washington University.
• 5."Francis Edgar Johnston." Mathematics Genealogy Project 12 Nov 2008 <http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=4619&fChrono=1>.
• 6.Letter from President Thomas H. Carroll February 22, 1964
• 7.Letter to President Thomas H. Carroll Nov. 25, 1963
• 8.The Washington Post printed an article, “Francis Johnston, 80, mathematics professor at GWU” published March 4, 1978
• 9.The George Washington University, Abstracts of doctoral dissertations.. Washington, D.C. : The University, 1930-1968.