Eugene Alexander Graham, Jr.

Born: March 25, 1925; place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died April 30, 1997 in Orly, France

B.S. Electrical Engineering (1954) M.I.T.

Mathematics (1957) University of Turin, Italy
thesis:

area of degree: Information Theory

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Eugene Graham, Jr. was born and rasised in Philadelphia. After high school he voluntered as a soldier in WW II, in 1943. Fought in Italy, in infantry, June 1944 - December 1945. Was in charge of the field radio, always a dangerous and important task. Was wounded in action. Several citations for gallantry under fire. Won several decorations including Silver Star with cluster, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, etc.

He wrote a book, "Buffalo", about his experience in a segregated and under-staffed battalion in World War II. Buffalo is the name of his all-black battalion (or company, I do not quite know the difference), which was always on the front with no relief nor support. [Note. those readers unfamiliar with African American history, the Black soldiers after the Civil War (after which Blacks were freed) were called Buffalo soldiers. My dad wrote the tale of the devastating losses it suffered in some of the worse combat, as the allied forces fought inch by inch to conquer Italy.

The US wanted to "show" that they were not racists, as Nazi propaganda had
them, and used such battalions so that many blacks were seen among US troops. Logistical problems and racism were such that these battalions were much less prepared and staffed than "normal" white ones, and disregard for losses and political expediency had them fight on the worse stretches of the front day in day out.

This disturbing and troublesome book was never published in the US. It found an Italian publisher, but with astonishingly and mysteriously low distribution, practically none.

Graduated with honors from Central High School in Philadelphia in 1943.
Received honorary Bachelor of Arts Degree with honors from Pensylvania Area University - Liberal and Science 9/1946 - 6/1948.

Degree in Electrical Engineering at MIT in January 1954.

After earning a degree from Harvard, Eugene Graham went to Italy to study graduate mathematics he married there. He fathered two boys one of which is the excellent mathematician Carl Graham.

Teaching and research fellowship at the Galileo Ferraris National Institute for Advanced Studies in Engineering and Sciences of the Polytechnicum and University of Turin, Italy, 10/1955 - 12/1957

Doctorate in advanced mathematics, december 1, 1957, with thesis on
Information Theory, University of Turin, Italy

Dr. GRaham continued mainly doing research in engineering companies. He has
many publications, but in the electro-engineering field

 

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