Charles Cameron Conley was an American intellectual, mathematician, professor, military veteran, and originator of math theorems.

As a mathematician, he created The Conley Index Theory and the Conley–Zehnder theorem, both of which are named for him. The Conley Index Theory is credited with helping to lay the foundations for the Space Exploration. His classical Conley-Zehnder Theorem is fundamental to proving a number of probabilistic theorems about the existence and density of fixed points of symplectic strand diffeomorphisms in dimensions greater than 2.

An inspirational professor, dozens of students were motivated to pursue higher mathematics by his lectures on complex principles.

1933 - 1955 THE ORIGINS OF CHARLES CAMERON CONLEY

Charles Cameron Conley was born in 1933, to Charles and Bertha Conley in Royal Oak, Michigan.

He was the only son of six children. He had an uneventful childhood and graduated from Royal Oak High School in 1949.

Young Charles initially enrolled in Wayne State University, then after only one year, joined the enlisted in the United States Air Force. Stationed in the United Kingdom, he served in the military for 5 years before returning to Michigan and Wayne State. He remembered his time in England fondly.

Upon returning to university studies, he earned a BS degree in 1957, and MS degree in 1958. He then enrolled in MIT, earning a PhD in 1961. His genius was revealed in his dissertation. His life and career accelerated rapidly.

While at MIT in 1960, Conley’s dissertation advisor, Jürgen Moser moved to The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (commonly known as Courant or CIMS) which is the mathematics research school of New York University (NYU). The prestigious Courant began with Richard Courant , who left Göttingen University in Germany for America, bringing with him methods for mathematical study from one of Germany’s most esteemed institutions.

Conley joined Professor Moser in New York in 1960, while continuing his work towards the PhD from MIT. While in New York preparing for the successful defense of his dissertation, Charles C. Conley met his future wife, Catharine ‘Kit’ Smith. In 1961, Conley began post-doc studies at Courant, extending his work under the Moser’s supervision.

Charles arrived at University of Wisconsin in Madison in the Fall of 1963. By this time, most people called him ‘Charlie’. Charlie came to U Wisconsin-Madison directly from the Courant Institute, where he had been a postdoctoral fellow for two years.

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was established four years prior to Charles’ arrival in Wisconsin, and the new space agency quickly identified his work as very useful in the quest to reach the moon. He became an official Consultant to NASA upon his arrival in Wisconsin, in parallel with his academic work. For the next three years, he focused on celestial mechanics, and published widely referenced academic papers on the topic.

He was awarded tenure in 1965, after only two years as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to full Professor only three years later in 1968.

He earned a great reputation advising his Ph.D. thesis students. His humility and humor won over many graduate students grappling with the most challenging subjects in mathematics. According to one of his students, “He had a natural gift for transmitting his ideas and enthusiasm. . . his students were an integral part of his overall research program.”