Andrzej Jeśmanowicz

Andrzej Jeśmanowicz (1942/43-2015) represented Poland at the 1961 International Mathematical Olympiad as a schoolboy, then became a physicist. After a PhD in nuclear magnetic resonance at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (1975), he emigrated to the United States and joined the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1984. There he helped build one of the pioneering MRI programs, developing surface coils for diagnostic radiology and, from the early 1990s, helping originate functional MRI (fMRI) and functional connectivity imaging through signal-processing methods. He rose to Professor of Biophysics, authored 167 peer-reviewed abstracts, and was elected a Fellow of the ISMRM before his death from cancer in May 2015.

Notes5

• Helped originate functional MRI (fMRI) and functional connectivity (fcMRI) at MCW, developing the signal-processing methods for extracting brain function from image series and creating MCW's first Fourier Transform course.
• Represented Poland at the 3rd International Mathematical Olympiad (1961) as a secondary-school contestant, placing ~32nd with 16 points and a participation (no award) in a Polish team that finished 2nd overall behind Hungary.Jul 1961
• Died on May 15 (2015) of cancer at age 72, in the Milwaukee area; visitation held May 22, 2015 at Becker Ritter Funeral Home in Brookfield, Wisconsin.May 15, 2015
• The IMO contestant is the same man as Prof. Andrzej Jesmanowicz, the MRI/biophysics physicist: his MCW memorial cites his 'strong mathematics background', and the IMO-1961 teammate Maciej Skwarczyński became a Warsaw mathematician, placing both in the same Polish olympiad cohort.May 2015
• Appointed Senior Research Scientist at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1984 and rose to Professor of Biophysics; he moved from Poland to Milwaukee to build the MCW MRI research program.Jan 1984
• Son of Prof. Leon Jeśmanowicz, the prominent Toruń mathematician; the family site lists Andrzej alongside his father Leon, mother Sabina, and brothers Sławek and Maciek, tying his early mathematical talent to a mathematical household.
• A founding contributor to the MCW MRI surface-coil program that pioneered surface coils for diagnostic radiology; published 23 papers in 1986-87 alone, and his surface-coil paper count doubled again by the early 1990s.Dec 1987
• Earned his PhD in Physics from Nicolaus Copernicus University (UMK) in Toruń in 1975, with doctoral research in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and postdoctoral training in electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR).Jan 1975
• Author of 167 peer-reviewed scientific abstracts and elected to Fellowship in the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM); brought international recognition to MCW's MRI program.
• At his death he was working on radio-frequency pulse design for a new 7T scanner, applying radar-derived pulse techniques to extract more physiological detail about the brain — a project left incomplete.May 2015
• Bohrium scholar profile records a citation count of 7,815 and an h-index of 37 across 65 indexed papers, concentrated in MRI/fMRI methodology — a high-impact career for a methods scientist.
• Kept a personal academic site (stan.jesmanowicz.com/andrzej) linking his MCW affiliation and functional brain imaging work; the associated family site jesmanowicz.com hosts the family's pages.