Zdeněk Hedrlín (1933 – April 22, 2018) was a Czech mathematician, specializing in
universal algebra
Universal algebra (sometimes called general algebra) is the field of mathematics that studies algebraic structures in general, not specific types of algebraic structures.
For instance, rather than considering groups or rings as the object of stud ...
and combinatorial theory, both in pure and applied mathematics.
Zdeněk Hedrlín received his PhD from Prague's
Charles University
Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...
in 1963. His thesis on commutative semigroups was supervised by Miroslav Katětov. Hedrlín held the title of ''Docent'' (associated professor) at Charles University, working at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics for over 60 years until he died at age 85. He was among the first Czech mathematicians to do research on
category theory
Category theory is a general theory of mathematical structures and their relations. It was introduced by Samuel Eilenberg and Saunders Mac Lane in the middle of the 20th century in their foundational work on algebraic topology. Category theory ...
.
In 1970 Hedrlín was an Invited Speaker at the
International Congress of Mathematicians
The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU).
The Fields Medals, the IMU Abacus Medal (known before ...
in
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionJournal of Pure and Applied Algebra''. His Erdős number is 1. His doctoral students include Vojtěch Rödl.