Stanislaus Thomas Maria (Stan) Ackermans (1936 – 1995) was a Dutch
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 ...
, and the seventh
rector magnificus
A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world the rector is often the most senior official in a u ...
of the
Eindhoven University of Technology
The Eindhoven University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven), abbr. TU/e, is a public technical university in the Netherlands, located in the city of Eindhoven. In 2020–21, around 14,000 students were enrolled in its BSc ...
. He was also one of the founders, the namesake and the first director of the
Stan Ackermans Instituut.
Biography
Ackermans was the son of Rie A.G. Schonk and Anton J.J.M. Ackermans, a high school teacher in Amsterdam.
[ Following his secondary education, Ackermans attended the ]University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other bein ...
, where he studied mathematics; he graduated under professor N.G. de Bruijn. In 1961 he followed his professor to Eindhoven to work under him again, this time on 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 ...
(which he was granted in 1964). In the period of 1967–68 he worked at UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...
. He was appointed full professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...
of mathematics back in Eindhoven in 1972, for the chairs of algebra
Algebra () is one of the areas of mathematics, broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathem ...
and functional analysis
Functional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis, the core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces endowed with some kind of limit-related structure (e.g. inner product, norm, topology, etc.) and the linear functions defined ...
.
Ackermans became dean of the mathematics department in 1978; he remained as the dean until 1981, when he became conrector of the university. In 1982 he succeeded Professor Hans Erkelens as rector magnificus
A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world the rector is often the most senior official in a u ...
. This was also the year of the two-phase structural reformation of higher education in The Netherlands (Dutch: ''Tweefasenstructuur wetenschappelijk onderwijs'') and the financial cutback program ''Division of labor and concentration'' (Dutch: ''Taakverdeling en concentratie''), which were mandated by the Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
.
Ackermans completed one term as rector. In 1986 he took the initiative in founding the ''Institute for Continuing Education'' (Dutch: ''Instituut Vervolgopleidingen''), of which he became the scientific director. This institute offers two-year, post-graduate technical designer education to graduates of the two-phase programs; the institute was renamed the Stan Ackermans Institute
4TU (stylized as 4TU.Federation) is the federation of the four Dutch universities of technology :
* Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)
* Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e)
* University of Twente (UT)
* Wageningen University and ...
after Ackerman's death in 1995.
Notable publications
* ''Algebra en Analyse'' (Academic Science, Den Haag, 1976; ) together with Professor Jack Van Lint — textbook used for decades at the university.
References
External links
Public lecture given upon accepting the position of lector in mathematics at the Technische Hogeschool Eindhoven on Friday 14 January 1966
An Asymptomatic Method in the Theory of Series
Ackerman's 1964 PhD dissertation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ackermans, Stan
1936 births
1995 deaths
20th-century Dutch mathematicians
Scientists from Amsterdam
University of Amsterdam alumni
Eindhoven University of Technology alumni
Eindhoven University of Technology faculty
Rectores Magnifici of the Eindhoven University of Technology