University of Toronto Department of Mathematics explained

Department of Mathematics, University of Toronto
Type:	Academic department
Head:	Jeremy Quastel
Location:	40 St. George Street Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Parent:	Faculty of Arts and Science University of Toronto

The University of Toronto Department of Mathematics is an academic department within the Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Toronto. It is located at the university's main campus at the Bahen Centre for Information Technology.

The University of Toronto was ranked first in Canada for Mathematics in 2018 by the QS World University Rankings, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and the Maclean's University Rankings.^{[1] [2] [3]}

History

For most of the second half of the 19th century, the University of Toronto was the only English-language university in Canada to offer programs with specializations, one being in mathematics and natural philosophy. The university launched its mathematics program in 1877, which became a model for the rest of Canada during the first half of the 20th century.^[4] The Mathematical and Physical Society was founded in 1882 as a mathematics student society.

In the early 20th century, the department became the first in North American to explore the field of actuarial science. At the same time, the University of Toronto's mathematics department increasingly took the lead on mathematical research in Canada. Faculty member John Charles Fields, appointed professor in 1902, was perhaps the most important in developing research at Toronto.^[5] Fields organized the 1924 International Congress of Mathematicians held in Toronto, and would later found the Fields Medal.

Fields's student, Samuel Beatty, was the first mathematics Ph.D. in Canada, obtaining his degree in 1915 (Beatty would later serve as head of the mathematics department and first president of the Canadian Mathematical Society in 1945). In the next twenty years, Toronto was to produce eight doctorates in mathematics, two of them women.^[6]

The Department's competitive mathematics team, consisting of Irving Kaplansky, Nathan Mendelsohn and John Coleman, won first place in the first year of the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition in 1938. While competition rules prevented the University of Toronto from entering a team the following year, the team in won again in 1940, 1942 and 1946.

Meanwhile, the first Canadian mathematics journal, Canadian Journal of Mathematics, began publication by the University of Toronto Press in 1949, with faculty members Harold Coxeter and Gilbert de Beauregard Robinson as Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor, respectively.

The department moved from University College to Baldwin House in 1958, and then to Sidney Smith Hall upon its completion in 1961. The statistics sub-department, first established in 1947, became a separate department in 1978.

The department was one of the founders of the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences in 1991. Initially based at the University of Waterloo, the institute is now located at the University of Toronto. In 2006, the Department of Mathematics moved to the sixth floor of the Bahen Centre for Information Technology, located directly behind the Fields Institute.^[7]

Academics

Awards and medals

Of the 120 current Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada in the discipline of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, 21 (or 18%) are members of the University of Toronto's Department of Mathematics.^[8]

A number of individuals affiliated with the department have won international prizes for their research in mathematics, including the Fields Medal, the Wolf Prize, the Steele Prize, the Cole Prize, the Clay Research Award, and the Sloan Fellowship.^{[9] [10] [11]}

Rankings

In the 2018 QS World University Rankings, the University of Toronto was ranked nineteenth in the world in the subject of Mathematics. The university was ranked first in Canada for Mathematics in 2018 by the Maclean's University Rankings, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and the QS World University Rankings.

Notable members

Alumni

Notable alumni of the Department include Arthur Dempster, Clifford Dowker, Donald Fraser, Irving Kaplansky, Walter Kohn,^[12] J. Carson Mark (Ph.D. 1938),^[13] Nathan Mendelsohn, John Mighton (Ph.D. 2000),^[14] Robert Moody (Ph.D. 1966), Cathleen Morawetz, Gordon Slade, Robert Steinberg (Ph.D. 1948), James Stewart (Ph.D. 1967),^[15] and Albert Tucker.

Current members

• James Arthur ; CRM-Fields-PIMS Prize (1997), Wolf Prize (2015), Steele Prize (2017)
• Edward Barbeau
• Dror Bar-Natan
  • Edward Bierstone Stephen Cook ; Turing Award (1982), CRM-Fields-PIMS Prize (1999)
• Derek Corneil
• Chandler Davis
  • • • • George Elliott John Friedlander Lisa Jeffrey Victor Ivrii Yael Karshon
• Boris Khesin
  • Askold Khovanskii Stephen Kudla ; Sloan Fellowship (1981)
    • • • Robert McCann Eckhard Meinrenken Pierre Milman Kumar Murty Alexander Nabutovsky
• Toniann Pitassi
• Jeremy Quastel ; Sloan Fellowship (1996–98), CRM-Fields-PIMS Prize (2018)
  • Jeff Rosenthal Arul Shankar; Sloan Fellowship (2018)
    • Israel Sigal Catherine Sulem Stevo Todorčević ; CRM-Fields-PIMS Prize (2012)
• Jacob Tsimerman
• Luis Seco

Former members

• Frederick Atkinson, Professor (1960–2002)
• Artur Avila, Visitor (2011); Fields Medal (2014)^[16]
• Samuel Beatty, Professor (1911–33) and Chair (1934–52)
• Richard Brauer, Professor (1935–48); Cole Prize (1949)
• James Colliander, Professor (2001–2015); Sloan Fellowship (2003)^[17]
• Harold Coxeter, Professor (1936–80); CRM-Fields-PIMS Prize (1995), Sylvester Medal (1997)^[18]
• Arthur Dempster, Lecturer (1957–58)
• Gabriel Andrew Dirac, Lecturer (1952–53)
• George Duff, Professor (1952–92) and Chair (1968–75)
• John Charles Fields, Professor (1902–32)
• Larry Guth, Assistant Professor (2008–11); Clay Research Award (2015)^[19]
• Israel Halperin, Professor (1966–78)
• Hans Heilbronn, Professor (1964–75)
• Leopold Infeld, Professor (1938–50)
• William Kahan, Professor (1963–70); Turing Award (1989)
• Cecilia Krieger, Professor (1928–69)
• George Lorentz, Assistant Professor (1950–54); Humboldt Prize (1973)
• Louis Mordell, Lecturer (1953–55); Smith's Prize (1912), De Morgan Medal (1941), Sylvester Medal (1949)
• Abraham Robinson, Professor (1952–57)
• Gilbert de Beauregard Robinson, Professor (1929–30, 1931–71)
• Ralph Gordon Stanton, Assistant Professor (1950–58)
• John Synge, Assistant Professor (1920–25, 1930–43)^[20]
• William Tutte, Associate Professor (1948–62); CRM-Fields-PIMS Prize (2001)
• Maria Wonenburger, Associate Professor (1962–66)
• Maciej Zworski, Professor (1995–2000)^[21]

See also

• Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences

Notes and References

1. Web site: QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018: Mathematics. QS World University Rankings. 23 October 2018. 2018-02-22.
2. News: Times Higher Education. Best universities for physics, chemistry and maths degrees 2018. 27 November 2017.
3. News: Best mathematics universities in Canada: 2018 rankings. 30 November 2017. Maclean's.
4. Encyclopedia: Charbonneau. Louis. Robert P.. Langlands. Robert Langlands. Murray. Klamkin. Murray S. Klamkin. Mathematics. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. 7 February 2006.
5. 10.1484/J.ARIHS.5.112882. Mathematics in Canada: An Institutional Portrait (1900–1980). Tom. Archibald. 101–117. Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences. 0003-9810. 66. 176. 2016.
6. Book: Mathematics in Canada before 1945: A Preliminary Survey. Thomas. Archibald. Louis. Charbonneau. Mathematics and the Historian's Craft: The Kenneth O. May Lectures. Springer. New York. CMS Books in Mathematics. 2005. 978-0387-25284-1. 2005923503. Glen. Van Brummelen. Michael. Kinyon. 141–182. 10.1007/0-387-28272-6_7.
7. Erich W.. Ellers. George A.. Elliott. George A. Elliott . February 2005. Open House in the New Space. 2. Mathematics Newsletter. Toronto. Department of Mathematics. University of Toronto. 25 October 2018.
8. Web site: Fellows. The Royal Society of Canada. 25 October 2018.
9. News: James G. Arthur to Receive the 2017 AMS Leroy P. Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement. 23 November 2016. Department of Mathematics, University of Toronto.
10. Web site: 2015 Clay Research Award. 4 June 2015. 23 October 2018. Clay Mathematics Institute.
11. Web site: James Colliander. Banff International Research Station for Innovation and Discovery. 23 October 2018.
12. 10.1063/PT.3.3274. Walter Kohn. Pierre C.. Hohenberg. James S.. Langer. Physics Today. 69. 8. 64–65. 2016. free. 2016PhT....69h..64H.
13. Obituary: J. Carson Mark. Physics Today. October 1997. 50. 10. 124–126. https://web.archive.org/web/20131012003914/http://www.physicstoday.org/resource/1/phtoad/v50/i10/p124_s1?bypassSSO=1. dead. 2013-10-12. 10.1063/1.881942. Petschek. Albert G.. Bell. George I.. Bethe. Hans A.. George Irving Bell. Hans Bethe. 1997PhT....50j.124P. free.
14. Encyclopedia: John Mighton. The Canadian Encyclopedia. 16 December 2013. Historica Canada. 23 October 2018.
15. Web site: Passing of James Stewart, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics. 3 December 2014. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, McMaster University. 25 October 2018.
16. Web site: 2014 Fields Medal recipients hold strong ties to Canadian mathematical community. Ottawa. Canadian Mathematical Society. 19 August 2014. 25 October 2018.
17. Web site: The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences Announces James Colliander as Director. 5 February 2016. Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences. 14 February 2019.
18. Encyclopedia: H. S. M. Coxeter. Encyclopædia Britannica. 24 March 2018. 25 October 2018.
19. Web site: Curriculum Vitae. Guth. Larry. Larry Guth. 25 October 2018.
20. Book: E.. Riehm. F.. Hoffman. 2011. Turbulent times in Mathematics. 80. American Mathematical Society. 978-0-8218-6914-7.
21. Web site: CV. Zworski. Maciej. Maciej Zworski. 25 October 2018.