Neil E. Gretsky
Professor of Mathematics, Emeritus
Neil E. Gretsky, a Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at UC Riverside (UCR), died on March 1, 2013, in Hermosa Beach, CA, at the age of 74.
Prof. Gretsky was born in Boston, Massachusetts to the late Lillian and Arthur Gretsky.
A 1958 graduate of the prestigious Boston Latin School, he received a full 4-year Merit Scholarship to California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he graduated with a B.S. in mathematics in 1962. He earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University, finishing in 1967.
Prof. Gretsky spent his academic career as Professor of Mathematics at UCR and as visiting faculty in the Department of Economics at UCLA. He had a keen intellect and zest for life and was knowledgeable about many subjects, including game theory, assignment models, and Banach function spaces.
His friends recall how one week, Prof. Gretsky might be testifying as a math expert on a Washington D.C. panel headed by Under-Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and the next week helping mathematically challenged friends.
When the City of San Diego banned Redondo Fun Factory owner Steve Shoemaker’s invention Wedges and Ledges because they said it was a gambling game, Prof. Gretsky testified as a court expert that the game was a game of skill and the ban was lifted.
While at UCR, Prof. Gretsky taught many courses in the Math Department, ranging from “Intro to Calculus” to “Probability and Mathematical Statistics” to “Game Theory” to “Optimization.” He also taught in the Department of Computer Sciences.
Prof. Gretsky was an avid card player, wrote a jazz column for the Easy Reader newspaper, and had a second-degree black belt in karate. A resident of Hermosa Beach for over 45 years, he was a local surfer and volleyball player, and he was active in local political issues, particularly efforts to stop oil drilling.
Prof. Gretsky is survived by former wife Terry Gretsky, sons Aaron and Miles Gretsky, step-daughter Cindy Adams and her husband Marshall Adams, sister Nancy Gretsky-Bassel and her husband Howard Bassel, two nephews Noah Bassel and Timothy Reade, ex-wife Patricia Hogan, and two step-grandchildren Taylor and Carolynn Adams.
