Leon A. Henkin *47

Leon A. Henkin, professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, and for more than 40 years an effective advocate for diversity in the upper realms of math and science, died of natural causes in Oakland Nov. 1, 2006. He was 85.

At Princeton, he earned a master's in 1942 and a Ph.D. in 1947, both in mathematics. His dissertation was supervised by the famous logician Alonzo Church '24 *27. During World War II, he worked on the Manhattan Project. He went to Berkeley in 1953, became a full professor in 1958, and retired in 1991.

According to John W. Addison, a former long-term chair of Berkeley's math department, Henkin's doctoral dissertation produced a radically new proof that was recognized by leading logicians, and remains a fundamental tool in model theory, now regarded as one of the four leading branches of mathematical logic. Addison also praised Henkin's teaching as "truly exceptional."

A 1990 tribute from the Mathematical Association of America stated that "few individuals of our era have had a greater impact on the health of American mathematics than has Leon Henkin."

He is survived by his wife, Ginette, and two sons.