1908-1931

French mathematician remembered for his outstanding contributions to mathematical logic and for his theorem on testing for sentential validity. From an early age, Herbrand was an outstanding student in mathematics. He was admitted to the Ecole Normal Supérieure when he was only 17 years of age and received his Ph.D. when he was 21. He received a Rockefeller fellowship which allowed him the time and money to travel and study at Berlin and Göttingen universities, where the most famous mathematicians were gathered. Unfortunately, he died at age 23 in a vacation accident in the Alps, and his promising career came to an early end in 1931.