Franz Halter-Koch (1944-2023)

We are deeply saddened to announce to the mathematics community that Franz Halter-Koch passed away on November 29, 2023. Below is an obituary written by Scott T. Chapman and Alfred Geroldinger.

“Franz Halter-Koch began his study of mathematics and physics at the University of Graz in 1962. Some years later, he moved to the University of Hamburg, where he completed his master thesis under the supervision of Helmut Hasse. He then returned to the University of Graz and wrote his PhD thesis under the supervision of the number theorist Alexander Aigner. After positions at the Graz University of Technology and at the University of Cologne, he became a professor at the University of Essen in 1973. He moved back to Graz in 1981, where he served as a professor at the University of Graz and as the head of the algebra and number theory group until his retirement in 2008.

Franz Halter-Koch made substantial contributions to classical elementary and algebraic num- ber theory, to commutative algebra in rings and monoids, and to factorization theory. He wrote about 150 research papers and 6 monographs, including the books Ideal Systems, Non-Unique Factorizations, and Class Field Theory and L-Functions. He was a member of several mathematical societies as well as the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Not only his academic work, but his passion for mathematics and his selfless support inspired his local group in Graz as well as many colleagues in the worldwide community. We are grateful that we had him as a teacher and mentor over these many decades.

Our thoughts are with his wife Dorothea, his children Christian, Beate, and Anna, and his seven grandchildren.

A longer obituary will appear in a forthcoming issue of the International Mathematical News of the Austrian Mathematical Society.”

What’s new on commalg? October 2023 edition

Conferences with deadlines coming up or that were recently announced:

Other news:

  • There will be a Commutative Algebra semester long program at SLMath/MSRI.
  • The University of Manitoba has a tenure-track position starting in Fall 2024 in algebra/topology with applications to quantum science. More information here.
  • Marie Vitulli is looking to donate her commutative algebra and algebraic geometry library. See full post here.
  • Edwin O’Shea (1977-2023).
  • The University of West Virginia has decided to end its Math PhD program. See here for more information and how to get involved.

Research library donation

A message from Marie Vitulli:

“I need to downsize and want to let go of my research library in commutative algebra and algebraic geometry. AIM is no longer accepting donations. Does anyone know of another place to donate as a tax-deductible contribution? I think this is a long shot so I am thinking of listing my collection for sale on Alibris. Does anyone know of another good place to sell trade books? I have a fairly extensive collection.”

If you have any suggestions, you can reply directly to Marie or you can contact us here.

 

Edwin O’Shea (1977-2023)

We are deeply saddened to share with the community the news of the passing of Edwin O’Shea. In the words of Graham Leuschke, Edwin was “a hilarious, kind, generous person”. A memorial fund is being established in his name, the Edwin O’Shea Memorial Scholarship for Undergraduate Mathematics Research, which will benefit students currently enrolled at James Madison University. You can donate to the scholarship fund here. To learn more about Edwin, his contributions to academia and his commitment to his students visit this website, or read his obituary here.

David Rush (1943-2023)

We are deeply saddened to share with the community the news of the passing of David Rush, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at UC Riverside (UCR).

“We learned that Professor Emeritus Dave Rush passed away on February 13, 2023. He joined UCR in 1971 and retired in 2018 after almost 50 years. Dave Rush was a dedicated teacher and researcher. He organized the long-running Friday Algebra Seminar at UCR (from 1983 to 2018!). He authored 83 papers, many with his students and the VAPs who came to work with him. His work spans a wide variety of topics in Commutative Algebra, from flat modules to problems on bounding number of generators of ideals, from Bezout domains to study of associated primes of ideals, from lattice modules to Rees algebras. At least a third of his work was with Professor Emeritus Jack Ratliff. Together they made many advances in ideal theory for commutative rings. In fact, a closure operation on ideals was named in their honor, and nowadays the Ratliff-Rush closure of an ideal is an object of interest to many who work in commutative algebra. Prof. Rush supervised 13 Ph.D. students and worked with many visiting assistant professors at UCR, who benefited immensely from his kind nature, his mathematical wisdom, and his support. ” – C. Ciuperca, B. Engheta, I. Henriques, Y. Kim, K. Lin, P. Mantero, J. McCullough, K. Shah, J. Hong, J. Vassilev, and all Dr. Rush’s VAPs