Ronald Martin Foster (3 October 1896 – 2 February 1998), was an American mathematician at Bell Labs whose work was of significance regarding electronic filters for use on telephone lines. He published an important paper, A Reactance Theorem,Foster, R M, "A reactance theorem", Bell System Technical Journal, Vol. 3, pp. 259–267, 1924. (see Foster's reactance theorem) which quickly inspired Wilhelm Cauer to begin his program of network synthesis filters which put the design of filters on a firm mathematical footing.E. Cauer, W. Mathis, and R. Pauli, "Life and Work of Wilhelm Cauer (1900 – 1945)", Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Symposium of Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems (MTNS2000), Perpignan, June 2000. Retrieved online 19 September 2008. He is also known for the Foster census of cubic, symmetric graphs and the 90-vertex cubic symmetric Foster graph.
Education Foster was a Harvard College graduate S.B. (Mathematics), summa cum laude, Class of 1917. He also received two honorary Sc.D.s."The Foster Census: R.M. Foster's Census of Connected Symmetric Trivalent Graphs", by Ronald M. Foster, I.Z. Bouwer, W.W. Chernoff, B. Monson and Z. Star (1988) .
Professional career 1917 – 1943 Research & Development Department (later Bell Labs), American Telephone & Telegraph, as a Research Engineer (Applied Mathematician), New York City, New York. 1943 – 1963 Professor and Head of Department of Mathematics, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York City, New York.
Publications Campbell, GA, Foster, RM, Fourier Integrals for Practical Applications, "Bell System Technical Journal", pp. 639–707, 1928. Pierce, BO, Foster. RM. "A Short Table of Integrals", Fourth Edition, Ginn and Company, pp. 1–189, 1956.
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