James A. Hummel

James A. Hummel Mathematics Professor 
 
James A. Hummel, 82, a University of Maryland mathematics professor who for years harmonized as a bass in a number of barbershop quartets, died June 23 at the National Lutheran Home hospice in Rockville. He had encephalitis.

Mr. Hummel joined the Maryland faculty in 1957 and retired in 1993 as a professor emeritus.

He joined a barbershop quartet society in 1955 and was a member of various singing groups in the Washington area. He was often a judge for barbershop quartet competitions.

In mathematics, one of Mr. Hummel's early apprentices was a 12-year-old prodigy named Charles Fefferman. In 1978, Fefferman received the Fields Medal, the most prestigious award for achievement in mathematics.

James Alexander Hummel was born to Dutch immigrants in Santa Monica, Calif. He was a 1949 graduate of the California Institute of Technology, where he studied mathematics and astronomy. He served in the Army Signal Corps during the Korean War and received a master's degree in 1953 and a doctorate in 1955 from Rice University in Houston.

Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Caroline Ludy Hummel of Silver Spring; three sons, Bob Hummel of Great Falls, John Hummel of Jacksonville, Fla., and Albert Hummel of Kensington; and three grandchildren.

From the Washington Post.