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Who's That Mathematician? Paul R. Halmos Collection - Page 60

Author(s): 
Janet Beery (University of Redlands) and Carol Mead (Archives of American Mathematics, University of Texas, Austin)

For more information about Paul R. Halmos (1916-2006) and about the Paul R. Halmos Photograph Collection, please see the introduction to this article on page 1.

Index to the Collection


Halmos in Hawaii

Paul Halmos served as chair of the mathematics department at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu during 1968-69 and he had many mathematical visitors during this time. (See page 2 and page 10 of this collection, for instance.)  Four of his visitors during 1969 were Ivan and Crina Singer and Allen and Joan Shields. Allen Shields (1927-1989) visited the University of Hawaii for a semester from his home campus, the University of Michigan (where Halmos had been a professor from 1961 to 1968), while Ivan Singer visited UH for one week from much farther away, Romania. Actually, Singer was a Visiting Professor at the University of Iowa in 1969, and he and Crina traveled during the Winter Break to the West Coast of the U.S. so that he could give a series of talks and to Honolulu, Hawaii, for one week so he could work with Halmos. Besides doing mathematics, Singer remembers that he and Crina spoke Hungarian with Halmos because he wanted to practice it and that they had a wonderful time as tourists, taking in, for instance the Kodak Hula Show, and as guests of Paul and Virginia Halmos.

Halmos, Singer, Shields

Left to right:  Paul Halmos, Crina Singer, and Allen Shields at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu

Halmos, Shields (2), Singer

Left to right:  Paul Halmos, Allen Shields, Joan Shields, and Ivan Singer in Honolulu, Hawaii


Ivan Singer now is Research Professor and Honorary Member of the Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest. He is a functional analyst currently researching geometry in semi-modules, and also interested in optimization, convex and discrete geometry, and operations research. Photographs of (and by) Singer appear on page 36 and page 58 of this collection, where you can read more about him. Allen Shields is pictured on page 48 of this collection, where you can read more about him.

Halmos, Singer, Shields (2)

Left to right:  Paul Halmos, Crina Singer, Allen Shields, and Joan Shields in Honolulu, Hawaii

Halmos, Singer, Shields^2

Left to right:  Paul Halmos, Crina Singer, Allen Shields, and Joan Shields in Honolulu, Hawaii

Halmos and Singer

Paul Halmos and Crina Singer poolside in Honolulu, Hawaii


Many thanks to Ivan Singer for the photographs on this page. For more information about Paul R. Halmos (1916-2006) and about the Paul R. Halmos Photograph Collection, please see the introduction to this article on page 1.

Index to the Collection

You may use the photographs on this page in your classroom; for all other purposes, please contact Ivan Singer, Institute of Mathematics, Romanian Academy, or MAA Convergence Editor Janet Beery so that she may seek permission for you from Prof. Singer.

Janet Beery (University of Redlands) and Carol Mead (Archives of American Mathematics, University of Texas, Austin), "Who's That Mathematician? Paul R. Halmos Collection - Page 60," Convergence (June 2013), DOI:10.4169/loci003801

Who's That Mathematician? Images from the Paul R. Halmos Photograph Collection