Alexander Soifer is a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n-born American

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

author. His works include over 400 articles and 13 books. Soifer obtained his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in 1973 and has been a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of mathematics at the University of Colorado since 1979. He was visiting fellow at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

from 2002 to 2004, and again in 2006–2007. Soifer also teaches courses on

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

and

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. His publications include 13 books and over 400 articles. Every spring, Soifer, along with other mathematician colleagues, sponsors the Colorado Mathematical Olympiad (CMO) at the

University of Colorado Colorado Springs The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) is a public research university in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is one of four campuses that make up the University of Colorado system. As of Fall 2017, UCCS had over 12,400 undergraduate an ...

. Soifer compiles and writes most of the problems for the contest. The CMO was founded by Soifer on April 18, 1983. For the Olympiad's 30th anniversary, the university produced a film about it. In May 2018, in recognition of 35 years of leadership, the judges and winners decided in 2018 to rename the Colorado Mathematical Olympiad to the Soifer Mathematical Olympiad. In 1991 Soifer founded the research quarterly ''Geombinatorics'', and publishes it with the Geombinatorics

editorial board The editorial board is a group of experts, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take. Mass media At a newspaper, the editorial board usually consists of the editorial page editor, a ...

. In July 2006 at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, Soifer was presented with the

Paul Erdős Award The Paul Erdős Award, named after Paul Erdős, is given by the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions for those who "have played a significant role in the development of mathematical challenges at the national or international leve ...

by the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions. Soifer was the President of the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions from 2012 to 2018. His

Erdős number The Erdős number () describes the "collaborative distance" between mathematician Paul Erdős and another person, as measured by authorship of mathematical papers. The same principle has been applied in other fields where a particular individual ...

is 1.Erdős, Paul; Soifer, Alexander - Squares in a square. Geombinatorics 4 (1995), no. 4, 110–114

Selected books

* ''The Scholar and the State: In Search of Van der Waerden'' Springer, New York, 2015 (publisher: Birkhauser-Springer, Basel) * ''Mathematics as Problem Solving'' Center for Excellence in Mathematical Education, Colorado Springs, 1987 * ''How does one cut a triangle?'' Center for Excellence in Mathematical Education, Colorado Springs, 1990 * ''Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: The First Ten Years and Further Explorations'' Center for Excellence in Mathematical Education, Colorado Springs, 1991 * ''Geometric Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics'' Center for Excellence in Mathematical Education, Colorado Springs, 1994 * ''

The Mathematical Coloring Book ''The Mathematical Coloring Book: Mathematics of Coloring and the Colorful Life of Its Creators'' is a book on graph coloring, Ramsey theory, and the history of development of these areas, concentrating in particular on the Hadwiger–Nelson probl ...

'' Springer, New York 2009 * ''Mathematics as Problem Solving'' 2nd ed. Springer, New York 2009 * ''How Does One Cut a Triangle?'' 2nd ed. Springer, New York 2009 * ''The Colorado Mathematical Olympiad and Further Explorations: From the Mountains of Colorado to the Peaks of Mathematics'' Springer, New York 2011 * ''The Colorado Mathematical Olympiad; The Third Decade and Further Explorations: From the Mountains of Colorado to the Peaks of Mathematics'' Springer, New York 2017 * ''Geometric Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics'' 2nd ed. Springer, New York 2010 * ''Ramsey Theory: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, (editor and contributor)'' Birkhäuser-Springer 2011 * ''Life and Fate: In Search of Van der Waerden'', appeared in November 2008 in Russian. The expanded English edition, ''The Scholar and the State: In Search of Van der Waerden'', was published by Birkhäuser-Springer in 2017.

Geombinatorics

''Geombinatorics'' is a quarterly

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such as s ...

. It was established by

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

Alexander Soifer in 1991 and is published by the

University of Colorado at Colorado Springs The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) is a public research university in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is one of four campuses that make up the University of Colorado system. As of Fall 2017, UCCS had over 12,400 undergraduate an ...

. The journal covers problems in

discrete Discrete may refer to: *Discrete particle or quantum in physics, for example in quantum theory * Discrete device, an electronic component with just one circuit element, either passive or active, other than an integrated circuit *Discrete group, a ...

convex Convex or convexity may refer to: Science and technology * Convex lens, in optics Mathematics * Convex set, containing the whole line segment that joins points ** Convex polygon, a polygon which encloses a convex set of points ** Convex polytope ...

, and

combinatorial geometry Discrete geometry and combinatorial geometry are branches of geometry that study combinatorial properties and constructive methods of discrete geometric objects. Most questions in discrete geometry involve finite or discrete sets of basic geome ...

, as well as related areas. The journal is indexed in

Zentralblatt MATH zbMATH Open, formerly Zentralblatt MATH, is a major reviewing service providing reviews and abstracts for articles in pure and applied mathematics, produced by the Berlin office of FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastructur ...

Excellence Research Australia Excellence may refer to: * ''Excellence'' (magazine), for owners and fans of Porsche cars * Excellence (pop group), a Swedish pop group * ''Excellence'' (software), a word processor for the Amiga * ''Excellence'' (yacht), launched 2019 * Excellenc ...

, and

MathSciNet MathSciNet is a searchable online bibliographic database created by the American Mathematical Society in 1996. It contains all of the contents of the journal ''Mathematical Reviews'' (MR) since 1940 along with an extensive author database, links ...

References

External links

*
''Geombinatorics''Soifer Mathematical Olympiad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soifer, Alexander Textbook writers 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians 1948 births Mathematicians from Moscow University of Colorado faculty Living people