Richard D. Anderson

Born Feb. 17, 1922, in Hamden, Conn., Richard Davis Anderson Sr., 86, died Tuesday, March 4, 2008, at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather. He married Jeannette Olliver in Nashville, Tenn., on April 12, 1943. He was a resident of Baton Rouge for almost 52 years. Dr. Anderson earned a Ph.D. at the University of Texas in Austin in 1948, having interrupted his graduate education to report voluntarily for duty the day after the Pearl Harbor attack, and ultimately serving in combat in the Pacific as a junior officer of the U.S. Navy. In 1956, he accepted an appointment at LSU, where he held the title of Boyd Professor of Mathematics from 1959 to 1980 and then Boyd Professor Emeritus. He gained international recognition for his research in infinite dimensional topology, studying abstract properties of space. He served as president of the Mathematical Association of America, as vice-president of the American Mathematical Society and as the chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. He devoted himself to the welfare of his adopted home state, serving from 1981 to 2004 as senior advisor to the Louisiana Systemic Initiatives Program (LaSIP), funded by the National Science Foundation to improve education of K-12 pupils in mathematics and science. He was often heard to praise the achievements of Louisiana schoolchildren taught by teachers trained as a result of LaSIP's efforts, which became a model for programs pursuing the same goals across the nation. He is survived by three children, Dr. Richard D. Anderson Jr., of Los Angeles, and Dr. Charlotte M. Hollman and David M. Anderson, both of Baton Rouge; and six grandsons, David, Peter and James Hollman, and Michael, Stephen and Eric Anderson, all of Baton Rouge. He is also survived by three children-in-law, Judith Anderson, Dr. Jay Hollman and Stephanie Anderson; by his twin brother, John L. Anderson, of Chattanooga, Tenn.; his sister, Dottie Antman, also of Chattanooga; and by two sisters-in-law, Norma Anderson, of Chattanooga, and Beverly Anderson, of Minneapolis. He was preceded in death by his loving wife of almost 62 years, Jeannette Anderson; and two daughters, Susan Courtney Anderson and Virginia Dale Anderson. He was also preceded in death by his parents, John E. and Dorothea L. Anderson; his sister, Frances Moran; and his brother, Theodore Anderson. Visiting at Rabenhorst Funeral Home, 825 Government St., on Monday, March 10, from noon until memorial service at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Guidelines Inc., P.O. Box G, Laguna Hills, CA 92654.