Tom Lehrer

Whilst being an undergraduate student at Harvard in the 1950s, he began writing and performing comic songs to amuse his friends. Then after a brief stint in the Army, he returned to Harvard to puruse graduate studies in mathematics and continued to write songs, which were dark comic in character and with some elements of satire.
Self-produced and releasing his own records, he soon gain a cult following and embarked on some concert tours worldwide. In the 1960s, he wrote songs for the satricial TV program, That Was the Week That Was (or sometimes known as TW3) and his songs became much more satirical and dealing with hot topics of the day such as racism, nuclear proliferation and pollution.
He continued his studies and teaching in mathematics although he had a few forays into music. In the 1970s, he contributed some songs to the children's television show The Electric Company and in the 1980s, he gave his blessing and support to a musical written using his songs, Tom Foolery.
His music was greatly influenced by showtunes and musical theatre pieces, although he was more than willing to incorporate other styles to make a point. Lyrically, the humor is very dark and witty, very unusual for comedical music at that time (and even afterward as he is sometimes compared, stylically any way, to Mark Russell). "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park," "National Brotherhood Week," "The Vatican Rag" and the Sir Arthur Sullivan inspired "The Elements" are considered his widely well-known (and complete with controversy) songs.
Tom Lehrer currently teaches mathematics at the University of Santa Cruz.