Alexander Soifer

Alexander Soifer ( born August 14, 1948 in Moscow ) is a Russian- American mathematician who deals with group theory, geometry and combinatorics.

Soifer made ​​in 1971 graduated from the Moscow State Pedagogical University, where he was with Leonid Kulikov ( and Paul Erdős ) PhD 1973 ( Abelian Groups Having minimal system of generator ). He is since 1979 professor of mathematics at the University of Colorado, where he also teaches art and film history. He has been a visiting scientist at DIMACS ( Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, Rutgers University) and Princeton University (2002 to 2004, 2006 /2007).

He was from 1996 to 2005 in the Committee for the U.S. participation in the International Mathematical Olympiad ( as also been on the jury of the National Mathematical Olympiad of the Soviet Union from 1970 to 1974 ), and even the founder (1983 ) of a mathematics competition for students, the Colorado Mathematical Olympiad. Since 1996 he has been secretary of the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions ( WFNMC ) and since 2008 the Senior Vice President.

He is the author of several books on mathematical problem solving, and for example on coloring problems in combinatorics.

In 2006 he was awarded by Paul Erdös Award of the WFNMC. He is the founder (1991 ) and editor of the quarterly journal Geombinatorics, a research journal of open problems in combinatorics and discrete geometry.

Writings

• Mathematics as problem solving, Colorado Springs, Center for Excellence in Mathematics Education, 1987, 2nd edition Springer 2009
• How does one cut a triangle? , Colorado Springs, Center for Excellence in Mathematics Education, 1990, Springer 2009
• With Vladimir Boltjanski: Geometric Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics, Colorado Springs, Center of Excellence in Mathematics Education, 1991, new edition 2010 Springer Verlag
• The mathematical coloring book: mathematics of coloring and the colorful life of its creators, Springer 2009
• Life and Fate: in search of van der Waerden, Bartel Leendert his biography of van der Waerden published in 2008 in Russian and is to appear in English by Springer.