Daniel Shanks

Life and education

Shanks was born on January 17, 1917, in Chicago, Illinois. He is not related to the English mathematician William Shanks, who was also known for his computation of π. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the University of Chicago in 1937, and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Maryland in 1954. Prior to obtaining his PhD, Shanks worked at the Aberdeen Proving Ground and the Naval Ordnance Laboratory, first as a physicist and then as a mathematician. During this period he wrote his PhD thesis, which completed in 1949, despite having never taken any graduate math courses.

After earning his PhD in mathematics, Shanks continued working at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory and the Naval Ship Research and Development Center at David Taylor Model Basin, where he stayed until 1976. He spent one year at the National Bureau of Standards before moving to the University of Maryland as an adjunct professor. He remained in Maryland for the rest of his life. Shanks died on September 6, 1996.