Ian Hugh Sloan AO (born 17 June 1938, in Melbourne) is an Australian

applied 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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

. He was educated at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

(BSc 1958, BA (hons) 1960),

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

(MSc, 1961) and

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, where he was supervised by renowned mathematical physicist Sir

Harrie Massey Sir Harrie Stewart Wilson Massey (16 May 1908 – 27 November 1983) was an Australian mathematical physicist who worked primarily in the fields of atomic and atmospheric physics. A graduate of the University of Melbourne and Cambridge Unive ...

, and earned his PhD in 1964. He was a research scientist for the Colonial Sugar Refining company 1964–5, and since 1965 has been at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

, where he has been Scientia Professor since 1999. He served as Head of the School of Mathematics from 1986 to 1990 and from 1992 to 1993.Ian Sloan's web page
maths.unsw.edu.au, retrieved 2012-05-11. His early work was in theoretical

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

, but he moved to applied mathematics, especially

numerical analysis Numerical analysis is the study of algorithms that use numerical approximation (as opposed to symbolic manipulations) for the problems of mathematical analysis (as distinguished from discrete mathematics). It is the study of numerical methods ...

. Sloan has published more than 200 papers covering areas such as the numerical solution of

integral equations In mathematics, integral equations are equations in which an unknown function appears under an integral sign. In mathematical notation, integral equations may thus be expressed as being of the form: f(x_1,x_2,x_3,...,x_n ; u(x_1,x_2,x_3,...,x_n) ...

numerical integration In analysis, numerical integration comprises a broad family of algorithms for calculating the numerical value of a definite integral, and by extension, the term is also sometimes used to describe the numerical solution of differential equations ...

and interpolation, boundary integral equations, approximation theory, multiple integration, continuous complexity theory and other parts of numerical analysis and approximation theory. He has made important contributions to the theory of numerical integration in many dimensions, in recent years concentrating on

quasi-Monte Carlo method In numerical analysis, the quasi-Monte Carlo method is a method for numerical integration and solving some other problems using low-discrepancy sequences (also called quasi-random sequences or sub-random sequences). This is in contrast to the regu ...

s. After serving as vice-president and President elect 2017–2018, Sloan became President of the Royal Society of New South Wales in 2018, taking over from D. Brynn Hibbert.

Honours

* In 1990 he was elected a

Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science The Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science is made up of about 500 Australian scientists. Scientists judged by their peers to have made an exceptional contribution to knowledge in their field may be elected to Fellowship of the Academy ...

* In 1997, he was awarded the ANZIAM Medal of the

Australian Mathematical Society The Australian Mathematical Society (AustMS) was founded in 1956 and is the national society of the mathematics profession in Australia. One of the Society's listed purposes is to promote the cause of mathematics in the community by representing ...

. * During 1998–2000, he was President of the

. * He was the 2001 winner of the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soc ...

Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal The Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal is awarded at most every two years by the Australian Academy of Science to a mathematician or physicist for his or her outstanding research accomplishments.

. * Also in 2001, he was awarded the Centenary Medal. * In 2002, he shared the inaugural George Szekeres Medal of the

with Alf van der Poorten of Macquarie University. * During 2003–2007, he was President of the

International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics The International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ICIAM) is an organisation for professional applied mathematics societies and related organisations. The current (2020) President is Ya-xiang Yuan. History Until 1999 the Council was ...

(ICIAM). * In the June 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). * In 2012 he became a fellow of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

. * In 2014 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales (FRSN).

Selected publications

* Reviews: * * * * * *

References

External links

Ian Sloan homepage
unsw.edu.au/maths
Personal web page
web.maths.unsw.edu.au *Bright Sparcs entry

*High-Energy Physics Literature Database
Sloan, Ian H.
*Publication lis
1964–2007
web.maths.unsw.edu.au {{DEFAULTSORT:Sloan, Ian 1938 births Mathematicians from Melbourne University of Melbourne alumni University of Adelaide alumni Academic staff of the University of New South Wales Alumni of University College London Alumni of the University of London Living people Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Fellows of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Recipients of the Centenary Medal Officers of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Royal Society of New South Wales