Person
Van der Poorten, Alfred Jacobus (Alf) (1942 - 2010)
AM
- Born
- 16 May 1942
Amsterdam, Netherlands - Died
- 9 October 2010
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Mathematician and University Administrator
Summary
Alf van der Poorten was a mathematician of international standing whose research focused on number theory. He was particularly interested in diophantine analysis, Baker's theorem, transcendental numbers, continued fractions and elliptic curves. Working with colleagues he made significant discoveries including the solution of Posit's conjecture on the rationality of Hadamard quotients, and on the Einstein constant. He also published commentaries on the work of other mathematicians including Euler and Fermat. Van der Poorten was Professor of Mathematics at Macquarie University from 1979 to 2002 and served on the University's Council. His involvement with the Australian Mathematical Society included a term as President and editorship of several of the Society's journals. During his presidency, Australia hosted the 5th International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics. He was a member of mathematical review panels both in Australia and internationally, and was one of Australia's three delegates to successive International Mathematical Union quadrennial assemblies
Details
Chronology
- 1965
- Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc(Hons)), University of New South Wales
- 1965
- Education - Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of New South Wales
- 1965 - 1979
- Career position - Member, Board of Directors, University Co-operative Bookshop Ltd
- 1967 - 1973
- Career position - Member of Council, University of New South Wales
- 1968
- Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of New South Wales
- 1968 - 1971
- Career position - Lecturer in Pure Mathematics, University of New South Wales
- 1971 - 1974
- Career position - Senior Lecturer in Pure Mathematics, University of New South Wales
- 1972
- Education - MBA, University of Sydney
- 1973 - 1977
- Career position - Founding Editor, Australian Mathematical Society gazette
- 1975 - 1978
- Career position - Associate Professor of Pure Mathematics, University of New South Wales
- 1979 - 1982
- Career position - Chairman, Board of Directors, University Co-operative Bookshop Ltd
- 1979 - 1997
- Career position - Associate Editor, Bulletin of the Australian Mathematical Society
- 1979 - 2002
- Career position - Professor of Mathematics, School of Mathematics, Physics, Computing and Electronics, Macquarie University
- 1980 - 1987
- Career position - Head, School of Mathematics, Physics, Computing and Electronics, Macquarie University
- 1987 - 1991
- Career position - Chairman, New South Wales Selection Committee, Australian-American Education Foundation (Fulbright Scheme)
- 1990 - ?
- Career position - Consulting Editor, Mathematical journal
- 1990 - 2001
- Career position - Member of Council, Macquarie University
- 1991 - 1996
- Career position - Head, School of Mathematics, Physics, Computing and Electronics, Macquarie University
- 1991 - 2002
- Career position - Director, Centre for Number Theory Research, Macquarie University
- 1996 - 1998
- Career position - President, Australian Mathematical Society
- 1998
- Award - Doctorate honoris causa, Université Bordeaux, France
- 2002
- Award - George Szekeres Medal (jointly), Australian Mathematical Society
- 2004
- Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to mathematical research and education, particularly in the field of number theory
- 2009 - 2010
- Award - Honorary Member, Australian Mathematical Society
Related entries
Archival resources
Private hands (van der Poorten, A.J.)
- Alfred Jacobus Van der Poorten - Records, 1960 - 1988; Private hands (van der Poorten, A.J.). Details
Published resources
Book Sections
- Hunt, David, 'Life and mathematics of Alfred Jacobus van der Poorten (1942 - 2010)' in Number theory and related fields, Borwein, J.; Shparlinski, I.; and Zudilin, W., eds (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6642-0_1. Details
Journal Articles
- Coates, J. H.; van der Poorten, A. J., 'Kurt Mahler 1903-1988', Historical Records of Australian Science, 9 (4) (1993), 369-385. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9930940369. Details
- Coates, John Henry and Van per Poorten, A. J., 'Kurt Mahler, 26 July 1903 - 26 February 1988', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 39 (1994), 265-97. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1994.0016. Details
- Hunt, David, 'Emeritus Professor Alfred Jacobus (Alf) van der Poorten 16 May 1942 - 9 October 2010', Australian Mathematical Society gazette, 38 (1) (2011), 33-6. Details
Newspaper Articles
- Brown, Malcolm, 'Lauded mind brought humour in numbers: Alf van der Poorten, 1942 - 2010', Sydney Morning Herald (2010). Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q2644238. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/2539731. Details
- 'Van der Poorten, Alfred Jacobus (19420516-20101009)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1476100. Details
Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 6 October 2023
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education