In memoriam: Barth Pollak, professor emeritus of mathematics
Barth Pollak, professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of Notre Dame, died Feb. 17 in Brookline, Massachusetts. He was 94.
Born and raised in Chicago, Pollak earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). With a fellowship from the National Science Foundation, he received his doctorate from Princeton University, and then served on the mathematics panel of the Scientific Advisory Board for the National Security Agency.
Pollak then served on the mathematics faculties at IIT and Syracuse University before coming to Notre Dame in 1963, where he spent 37 years teaching and conducting research on arithmetic theory of quadratic forms, classical groups and algebraic number theory.
“Barth and I were colleagues and friends for six decades,” John Derwent, associate professor emeritus of mathematics, said. “He loved mathematics and teaching and hated administration. Most of all he loved his wife, Helen, and his children Martin and Eleanor, both of whom have had distinguished careers in medicine.”
Pollak received the Rev. James L. Shilts, C.S.C./Doris and Gene Leonard Teaching Award from the College of Science in 1993 for excellence in teaching at the undergraduate or graduate level.
Pollak was preceded in death by his wife and is survived by his son and daughter, their spouses and two grandsons. An online service in celebration of his life will take place this spring.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations in Pollak’s honor be made to Math Circles of Chicago.
Latest Faculty & Staff
- Architecture professor selected to display concept home on National Mall in Washington, DCMarianne Cusato, director of the Housing and Community Regeneration Initiative and a professor of the practice in the University of Notre Dame’s School of Architecture, has been selected to display her latest concept home in the 2023 Innovative Housing Showcase in Washington, D.C., from June 9-11.
- Patrick Griffin admitted as honorary member to Royal Irish AcademyPatrick Griffin, the Thomas Moore and Judy Livingston Director of the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies in the Keough School of Global Affairs and the Madden-Hennebry Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame, was admitted to the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) as an honorary member in a ceremony in Dublin on Friday (May 26).
- Awards honor Notre Dame faculty excellenceOn Tuesday (May 23), John T. McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost at the University of Notre Dame, announced the winners of several awards as part of a broader recognition of all those Notre Dame faculty members who have…
- Forgetfulness, even fatal cases, can happen to anyone, study showsResearchers at the University of Notre Dame set out to understand how and why forgetfulness can occur — whether it be forgetting your cellphone or, even worse, forgetting your child in the backseat of the car. Nathan Rose, the William P. and Hazel B. White Assistant Professor of Brain, Behavior and Cognition in the Department of Psychology, set up an experiment to better understand this lapse in what researchers call prospective memory, or the ability to remember critical but routine behaviors.
- ND Experts on the opportunities, concerns and impacts of AIIn light of the fast-paced and dramatic changes to the AI landscape, as well as calls for government oversight of the technology, University of Notre Dame experts reflect on the opportunities, concerns and impacts of AI on different fields — including entertainment and media, the arts, politics, the labor market, education and business.
- In memoriam: Jay Caponigro, senior director of community engagementJay Caponigro, senior director of community engagement at the University of Notre Dame, died Thursday (May 11) after a more than year-long illness. He was 54.
