Felix Arscott

Who was Felix Arscott?

Felix Medland Arscott was a British mathematician who was a member of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics since 1976 He was described by colleagues as a good friend and excellent teacher. Dr. Arscott was the founding head of the Applied Mathematics department at University of Manitoba from 1974 through 1986 and was named Professor Emeritus in 1996. Professor Arscott was described as an expert in the "higher special functions".

Felix Arscott was born in 1922 in Greenwich to Leonard Charles Arscott and Gladys Arscott, with one sister Faith Muriel. He served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, becoming a commissioned officer. He obtained an honours degree in mathematics from the University of London by private study. After obtaining his M. Sc in 1951, he left the UK to teach mathematics at Makerere University in East Africa. Arscott obtained his Ph.D. at the University of London in 1956 with the dissertation titled Ellipsoidal Harmonics and Ellipsoidal Wave Functions. He held positions at Aberdeen, Battersea College of Technology, and the University of Reading. By 1972, he had supervised six Ph.D. theses, and published 22 papers. He was a founding Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.