Elmer Gethin Rees, (19 November 1941 – 4 October 2019) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

mathematician with publications in areas ranging from topology,

differential geometry Differential geometry is a mathematical discipline that studies the geometry of smooth shapes and smooth spaces, otherwise known as smooth manifolds. It uses the techniques of differential calculus, integral calculus, linear algebra and multili ...

algebraic geometry Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics, classically studying zeros of multivariate polynomials. Modern algebraic geometry is based on the use of abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, for solving geometrical ...

, linear algebra and Morse theory to robotics. He held the post of Director of the

Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research The Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research is an international research institute for mathematics based at the University of Bristol. It is named after the distinguished number theorist Hans Heilbronn who worked at Bristol University from 19 ...

, a partnership between the University of Bristol and the British

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...

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GCHQ, from its creation in 2005 until 2009.

Biography

Rees was born in Llandybie and grew up in Wales. He studied at

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

gaining a BA before moving on to the University of Warwick, where he completed his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in 1967. His thesis on ''Projective Spaces and Associated Maps'', was written under the supervision of

David B. A. Epstein David Bernard Alper Epstein Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (born 1937) is a mathematician known for his work in hyperbolic geometry, 3-manifolds, and group theory, amongst other fields. He co-founded the University of Warwick mathematics depa ...

. Rees's career had taken him to University of Hull, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, Swansea University and St Catherine's College, Oxford, before becoming a professor at the University of Edinburgh in 1979, where he remained until retiring from the post in 2005. He was elected as a fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 1982. One of his most notable legacies was the establishment of the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences. Rees was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the

2009 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2009 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

. While at the universities of Oxford and Edinburgh, he supervised at least 15 PhD students,PhD thesis of Richard Hepworth
/ref> including Anthony Bahri, John D. S. Jones, Gregory Lupton, Jacob Mostovoy, Simon Willerton and Richard Hepworth.

Footnotes

External links and references

* *Senatus Academicus, University of Edinburgh.
''Special Minute - Professor Elmer Gethin Rees MA PhD FRSE''
. Retrieved 2006-10-21.
University of Edinburgh Honorary Degree (24 June 2008)Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical ResearchElmer Rees 70th birthday conference70th birthday conference poster
Welsh mathematicians 20th-century British mathematicians 21st-century British mathematicians Algebraic geometers Differential geometers Topologists Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Warwick Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Welsh scientists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 1941 births 2019 deaths Academics of the University of Edinburgh 20th-century Welsh writers 21st-century Welsh writers 20th-century Welsh educators 21st-century Welsh educators 21st-century Welsh scientists 20th-century Welsh scientists {{Wales-academic-bio-stub