Alexandra Bellow

August 30, 1935 - May 2, 2025

Alexandra Bellow, (née Bagdasar), 89, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Northwestern University, passed away peacefully at home in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood, May 2, 2025.

Alexandra was born in Bucharest to physician parents. She was proud of her parents’ work and highlighted their passion and commitment to their patients. Her mother, Florica Bagdasar (née Ciumetti), was a pediatric psychiatrist, and the first woman with a cabinet level position in Romania, serving as Minister of Health. Her father, Dumitru Bagdasar, is considered Romania’s father of neurosurgery. Alexandra continued with both their legacies of deep compassion and loving care.

Interested in mathematics since childhood, Alexandra earned her M.S. in mathematics from the University of Bucharest in 1957, and her PhD from Yale University in 1959. She spent most of her career at Northwestern University until her retirement in 1996. Even in this male-dominated field, she was able to thrive. Alexandra’s early work involved properties and consequences of mathematical lifting theory. She was lauded for her contributions to analysis, particularly ergodic theory, along with measure theory, and for exposition resulting in practical value for statisticians and other scientists... (Read More)