Dear Friends,

I write to share the tragic news that former math professor Eduard “Teddy” Einstein died on Dec. 3 after his bicycle and a vehicle collided on Providence Road in Upper Darby, Pa. He was 38.

Teddy, whose research focused on hyperbolic geometry and geometric group theory, joined Swarthmore’s Mathematics & Statistics Department in 2022 as a visiting assistant professor. In that three-year role, he taught courses in multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and abstract algebra.

Professor and Chair of Mathematics & Statistics Lynne Steuerle Schofield ’99 says Teddy was a “promising young mathematician whom we were lucky to have in our department. We are all heartbroken at this news."

Teddy was born in Santa Monica, Calif., and attended Harvard-Westlake School, graduating in 2006. He received a B.A. in mathematics from Pomona College in 2010, an M.A. in mathematics from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2012, and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Cornell University in 2018. Before coming to Swarthmore, Teddy held postdoc positions at the University of Illinois and the University of Pittsburgh.

Assistant Professor of Mathematics Allison Miller, who first knew Teddy as a fellow student at Pomona, remembers him as “passionate about sharing the beauty of theoretical mathematics” and for having had a “particularly strong impact on students by leading multiple summer research projects.” Indeed, in addition to maintaining his own research with a regular stream of publications, he also had research students every summer while he was at Swarthmore.

Teddy is remembered for working just as hard on his teaching. Professor of Mathematics Aimee Johnson, who served as department chair during Teddy’s first two years at the College, says he “put a lot of effort into making his classes interactive, including things like having his students vote on math definitions.”

In recent weeks, Teddy had just finished the final and most challenging pieces for two separate research projects that had each been the culmination of years of effort and that he felt represented the best work of his career. Each manuscript is now being handled by various collaborators so they can be submitted for posthumous publication under his name.

Along with his love of math, Teddy is remembered for his love for his family, his dry sense of humor, and for sharing his home-brewed beer with his colleagues.

Teddy is survived by his wife, Ruth Fahey; their young children, Charlie and Lorcan Einstein; and his parents, Dr. K. Alice Chang and Dr. Thomas Einstein.

A celebration of life is planned for June 20 next year, with details to follow. Please contact Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics Pat Devlin at pdevlin2@swarthmore.edu if you would like information on how to support Teddy’s family.

Sincerely,

Rich Wicentowski
Provost and Dean of the Faculty