Alan Newell has made profound contributions to modern Applied Mathematics at the national and international levels. His insights have set the course of inquiry in different fields, and his insistence that University of Arizona Mathematics could merge creative teaching with creative research, and pure mathematics with applications, has made Arizona a model that other mathematics departments try to emulate.
From the very beginning of his scientific career, Alan Newell has been a dominant figure in applied mathematics. He shaped research areas, built academic programs of international prominence, and promoted the growth of young scientists through his influence as mentor and teacher. The appellations “Newell–Whitehead–Segel equation”, “Cross–Newell equation”, and “AKNS method” directly connect his name to the fundamental ideas in convection, instability, pattern formation, defect dynamics, and soliton theory; his many other insights have advanced the understanding of optics, coherent phenomena, and turbulence.
Applied mathematicians everywhere recognize him as an intellectual force, and Arizona and its Department of Mathematics have been the beneficiaries. Alan's presence in the Department has always attracted guests and collaborators, some senior, but also many colleagues or students at the beginning of a prominent career. His generosity in intellectual and personal interactions has promoted the many ties that now connect our Mathematics Department with scientists across the world. He has brought distinction to The University of Arizona and has been awarded the university's highest honor: A Regents' Professorship.
Professor Dr. Alan Newell was selected as this year's John von Neumann lecturer at the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics' (SIAM) Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon, in July of this year. The John von Neumann recipient is chosen because of their distinguished contributions to applied mathematics. Professor Newell was selected in recognition of his pioneering research in nonlinear evolution equations modeling physical systems. His deep analysis and creative insight into nonlinear waves and patterns have given us new ways to analyze and understand the creation and dynamical behavior of patterns and coherent structures. He has made seminal contributions to the analysis of integrable partial differential equations and turbulence and provided leadership in identifying new approaches to understanding the creation and dynamical behavior of solitons and patterns in optical and fluid systems.
Alan C. Newell received B.A. (Mod.) degrees in Mathematics and Physics at
Trinity College, Dublin, and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For over thirty years, he has led
and helped to build the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at
Clarkson University (1971-79), the Applied Mathematics Program at the
University of Arizona (1981-85), the Department of Mathematics at the
University of Arizona (1985-96), and the Department of Mathematics at the
University of Warwick, UK (1996-2000). He is currently Professor of
Mathematics and Research Professor of Arizona Research Laboratories, both
at the University of Arizona, and Professor of Mathematics at the
University of Warwick.
For additional information on these announcements, please see the links above, or contact Nicholas M. Ercolani, Mathematics Department Head.