News: page 21

Dear Colleagues,

It’s that time of year again! Let me reintroduce myself to those who only know me in my modest teacher guise. I am the Social Amenities empress of the department. Welcome to all my new subjects! . And I am at your office door, (or mailbox or email inbox) once again, hand outstretched.

We are having a party (come all ye faithful --old and new) on Dec. 15 (reading day – so no classes) in Shepard 250 to introduce the generations of the department. So dust off your ball gowns (jeans are fine!) The party will take place between 12 -2 PM. Please respond to me (rring@ccny.cuny.edu) to reserve your spot and one for a partner if you wish. Be sure to tell me how many in your group. (We need the information so we can order the correct amount of food.) The royal treasury has become somewhat depleted this year since we had so many happy and sad events that we noted this year. We do not even have enough in the till to cover the modest party that we are planning! Thus, I come to solicit green holiday cheer from one and all. Indeed, we need money for many various and sundry reasons beyond the party. There are the usual births and weddings (please keep me informed or tell Jason to tell me.) Also, this time of year, we also thank some of the College people and others who have lent a hand in running the department throughout the past year (such as our department and College staff.)

Happy Holidays and thank you,

Shelley Ring

Professor Asohan Amarasingham has been announced the recipient of a prestigious Department of Defense grant in the amount of $594,000. Professor Amarasingham will use these funds to support his research in computational neuroscience.

Prof. Jay Jorgenson has been awarded the 2015 Provost's Prize for Pedagogical and Curricular Innovation Award. This award recognizes an individual faculty member or a faculty team which has demonstrated significant positive impact on student learning and retention through pedagogical and curricular innovations.

The Department of Mathematics marks with profound sadness the passing of Distinguished Professor Emeritus Gilbert Baumslag. Professor Baumslag joined the department in 1973 as a Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and stayed with us until 2006 when he joined the CCNY Department of Computer Science. He was founding director of the Center for Algorithms and Interactive Scientific Software, which grew out of the MAGNUS computational group theory project he headed. MAGNUS was funded by the National Science Foundation for 10 years. Dr. Baumslag was for more than 40 years the primary organizer of the New York Group Theory Seminar, considered the foremost research seminar in group theory in the world. He was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1968-69, and was inducted in 2012 as a member of the inaugural class of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society.

Gilbert Baumslag made many outstanding contributions to infinite group theory, particularly to the study of finitely presented groups. Many of these groups have nice algorithmic properties, with applications to cryptography and computer security and control. He published more than 160 scientific papers, and numerous books and monographs; he graduated 30 doctoral students.

Dr. Baumslag was a popular teacher and an outgoing research instigator who generously shared his insights. He had a profound impact on the research and careers of many colleagues, as well as students who became colleagues. We will miss him.

The NY Group Theory Seminar held a memorial session for Gilbert Baumslag on October 31st. The session was recorded, and you can view the recordings on YouTube.

The New York Times has published an obituary for Dr. Baumslag.

Lee Lorch, a professor in the CCNY Mathematics Department from 1946-1949, died at age 98 on February 28th, 2014. While in New York, Prof. Lorch fought for the desegregation of Stuyvesant Town contributing to a campaign agains housing segregation which eventually lead to the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

Lee Lorch was also a distinguished mathematican working in real analysis. He was a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society. He received an Honorary Degree from CUNY in 1990, which recognized his both his scholarly contributions and contributions to civil rights.

The New York Times has published an obituary for Lee Lorch. The Times says the following about his experience at City College:

Despite the backing of a majority of colleagues in his department, the appointments committee at City College blocked his promotion, effectively forcing him to leave.

Mr. Lorch was “unquestionably a fine scholar and a promising teacher,” an alumni committee later concluded, but some colleagues “regarded him, rightly or wrongly, as an irritant and a potential troublemaker.” Mr. Lorch himself charged that the college “protects bigots and fires those who fight bigotry.”