Torrence Parsons

Torrence Douglas Parsons (7 March 1941 – 2 April 1987) was an American mathematician known for his study of graph theory.

Torrence Parsons
Born	Torrence Douglas Parsons (1941-03-07)7 March 1941 Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	2 April 1987(1987-04-02) (aged 46) Chico, California, U.S.[1]
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Princeton University (PhD)
Known for	introducing a graph-theoretic view of pursuit–evasion problems
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematician
Doctoral advisor	Albert W. Tucker
Doctoral students	Tomaž Pisanski[2] Scott Stevens Mohammad Abu-Sbeih[3]

Mathematics

Parsons worked mainly in graph theory, and is known for introducing a graph-theoretic view of pursuit–evasion problems.^[4][5] He obtained his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1966 under the supervision of Albert W. Tucker.^[3] Parsons traveled often for his work, especially to Former Yugoslavia. In 1981, Parsons traveled to University of Ljubljana to be the thesis advisor for Tomaž Pisanski's thesis defense. In 1985, he gave a lecture in Dubrovnik.^[2]

Personal life and death

Parsons died on 2 April, 1987, at the age of 46 in Chico, California. He had been set to host a lecture at the Australian Mathematical Society in May, 1987. The cause of death was ventricular fibrillation, following Parsons running a marathon. Parsons regularly ran marathons. Following Parsons' death, the University of Chico established a memorial fund in his name.^[1]

Parsons was married and had two children, a pair of twins named Craig and Russell.^[1]