Obituaries

Garth P. McCormickMathematics Professor

Garth P. McCormick, 72, a retired mathematics professor at George Washington University who wrote an influential book in his field of mathematical optimization, died Aug. 24 of cancer at Suburban Hospital. He lived in Chevy Chase.

He was an author, with Anthony Fiacco, of "Nonlinear Programming: Sequential Unconstrained Minimization Techniques." The book received the 1968 Frederick W. Lanchester Prize in operations research and was reissued in 1990 as part of a series of books called Classics in Applied Mathematics.

Mr. McCormick's specialty of mathematical optimization concerned the application of mathematical and computational methods to the operations of complex systems. His book with Fiacco opened up many research opportunities in applied mathematics. Techniques derived from its findings have been used in such diverse fields as microwave antenna design, electric power generation, telescope design and airline crew scheduling.

Mr. McCormick came to the Washington area in 1960 as a mathematician with the old Operations Research Office of Johns Hopkins University. The group later became the Research Analysis Corp. in McLean.

He joined the faculty at George Washington University in 1971 and wrote several other books on nonlinear programming. He taught at GWU until he was disabled by a major stroke in 1992.

Mr. McCormick was born in Fort Wayne, Ind., and was a graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio. He served in the Army for two years, then received a master's degree in mathematics from the University of Michigan in 1959.

While teaching at GWU, he was a consultant for businesses and federal agencies.

Before his stroke, he enjoyed running and tennis. He was a member of the Cosmos Club for more than 30 years.

Survivors include his wife of 48 years, Virginia S. McCormick of Chevy Chase; four children, Jessica McCormick of Chevy Chase, Rachel McCormick of Falls Church, Caroline Razzaq of Gaithersburg and John McCormick of Bethesda; and three grandchildren.

-- Matt Schudel