I. Martin Isaacs

I. Martin Isaacs
Born(1940-04-14)April 14, 1940
DiedFebruary 17, 2025(2025-02-17) (aged 84)
Scientific career
FieldsGroup theory, mathematics
Workplaces
  • University of Chicago
  • University of Wisconsin–Madison

Irving Martin Isaacs (April 14, 1940 – February 17, 2025) was an American group theorist and representation theorist. He was a professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Biography

Isaacs was born in the Bronx, in New York City, on April 14, 1940. He received a BS from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1960. While a student there, he was named a Putnam Fellow for his performance in the 1959 William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition.

Isaacs went on to Harvard University for graduate study. He received a master's degree in 1961, and completed his PhD in 1964. His thesis was advised by Richard Brauer, and was titled Finite -solvable linear groups. After a few years at the University of Chicago as an instructor and visiting assistant professor, Isaacs moved to the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1969. He was hired as an associate professor, and promoted to full professor in 1971. According to the Mathematics Genealogy Project, he supervised 29 doctoral students over his career.

In 2011, Isaacs retired and became a professor emeritus. In retirement, he lived in Berkeley, California and was an occasional participant on MathOverflow. Near the end of his life, he endowed a prize for "Excellence in Mathematical Writing," first awarded in 2025.

Work

Isaacs is known as the author of graduate-level textbooks on character theory and group theory. His book Character Theory of Finite Groups has been described as a classic in the field.

Isaacs is also known for formulating the Isaacs–Navarro conjecture along with Gabriel Navarro, a widely cited generalization of the McKay conjecture.

Personal life

Isaacs was seriously injured in an automobile accident in France in 1964, shortly after receiving his PhD. The accident left him scarred and disabled.

He died of kidney failure on February 17, 2025.

Awards and honors

In 2009, a conference was held at the Universitat de Valencia in Spain to honor his contributions. Following the conference, a festschrift was published by the American Mathematical Society.

Isaacs was the recipient of a Sloan Foundation research award in 1971. He was inaugurated as a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society in 2013.

Isaacs was a Pólya lecturer for the Mathematical Association of America between 2003 and 2005.

Books

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Passman, Don (2025). "Memorial Resolution for Marty Isaacs". Department of Mathematics. University of Wisconsin–Madison. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Kalte, Pamela M.; Nemeh, Katherine H.; Schusterbauer, Noah, eds. (2005). American Men & Women of Science. Vol. 3 (G-I) (22nd ed.). Thomson Gale.
  3. ↑ "I. Martin Isaacs (1940–2025)" (PDF). Notices of the American Mathematical Society. 72 (11): 1266–1271. December 2025. doi:10.1090/noti3275.
  4. 1 2 "I. Martin (Irving) Isaacs". Mathematics Genealogy Project. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  5. ↑ Isaacs, Irving Martin (1964). Finite p-solvable linear groups (PhD thesis). Harvard University.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "I. Martin Isaacs (1940–2025)". Notices of the American Mathematical Society. 72 (11). 2025. doi:10.1090/noti3275.
  7. ↑ "Emeritus Professor Proposals". Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  8. 1 2 "User Marty Isaacs". MathOverflow. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Green to Receive Inaugural I. Martin Isaacs Prize". American Mathematical Society. November 26, 2024. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
  10. 1 2 Hunacek, Mark (November 29, 2012). "Review of Character Theory of Finite Groups by I. Martin Isaacs". MAA Reviews. Mathematical Association of America.
  11. ↑ Isaacs, I. Martin; Navarro, Gabriel (2002). "New refinements of the McKay conjecture for finite groups". Annals of Mathematics. 156: 333–344. arXiv:math/0411171. doi:10.2307/3597192. JSTOR 3597192. S2CID 16357742.
  12. ↑ "Isaacs-Navarro conjecture". Groupprops, The Group Properties Wiki. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Isaacs Conference: Conference on Character Theory of Finite Groups". June 3–5, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  14. ↑ Lewis, Mark L.; Navarro, Gabriel; Passman, Donald S.; Wolf, Thomas R., eds. (2010). Character Theory of Finite Groups: Conference in Honor of I. Martin Isaacs. Contemporary Mathematics. Vol. 524. American Mathematical Society. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
  15. ↑ "List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society". American Mathematical Society. Archived from the original on August 25, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  16. ↑ Curtis, Charles W. (1977). "Character theory of finite groups (book review)". Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society. 83 (5): 1005–1007. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1977-14355-3.
  17. ↑ Berg, Michael (April 24, 2009). "Review of Algebra: A Graduate Course by I. Martin Isaacs". MAA Reviews. Mathematical Association of America.
  18. ↑ Hunacek, Mark (October 20, 2011). "Review of Geometry for College Students by I. Martin Isaacs". MAA Reviews. Mathematical Association of America.
  19. ↑ Locascio, Andrew (April 20, 2009). "Review of Finite Group Theory by I. Martin Isaacs". MAA Reviews. Mathematical Association of America.
  20. ↑ Zaldivar, Felipe (July 24, 2018). "Review of Characters of Solvable Groups by I. Martin Isaacs". MAA Reviews. Mathematical Association of America.