Henrici was born in
Basel and studied law for two years at
University of Basel. After
World War II he transferred to
ETH Zürich where he received a
diploma in
electrical engineering (1948) and a
doctorate in
mathematics with
Eduard Stiefel as his advisor (1952).
Moving to the USA In 1951 he moved to the United States and worked on a joint contract with
American University and the
National Bureau of Standards. Then, from 1956 to 1962, he taught at
University of California, Los Angeles where he became a
professor. In 1962 he returned to ETH Zürich as a professor, a position he kept for the rest of his life, though he also held a part-time appointment as
William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1985.
Numerical Analyst An internationally recognized numerical analyst, who published 11 books and more than 80 research papers, Henrici was also a gifted pianist and a highly regarded teacher. He was an editor of a number of scientific journals, including
Numerische Mathematik and
Zeitschrift für Angewandte Mathematik und Physik. In 1962, he was a speaker at the
International Congress of Mathematicians, and in 1978 he gave the
SIAM John von Neumann Lecture. ==Peter Henrici Prize==