Jerald LaVerne Ericksen (born December 20, 1924) is an American mathematician specializing in continuum mechanics.Jerald was born in Portland, Oregon. His father Adolf worked at a Portland creamery and became adept at judging the quality of butter. Later his father acquired a small creamery in Vancouver, Washington where the family moved. Jerald’s brother A. Erwin was born there, and Jerald helped out in the creamery.In the fall of 1942 he entered Oregon State College in Corvallis.