Van der Poorten, Alfred Jacobus (Alf) (1942 - 2010)

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 - BSc (hons), University of New South Wales

1965

Education - 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 - 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
• 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