AMS welcomes 'new addition' as president Andrews

George E. Andrews, the Evan Pugh Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Pennsylvania State University, has begun a two-year term as President of the American Mathematical Society. He succeeds James G. Glimm, Distinguished Professor of Applied Mathematics and Statistics at Stony Brook University.

A number theorist, Andrews is best known for his study of the works of the brilliant self-taught Indian mathematician, Srinavasa Ramanujan. On a trip to Europe in 1976, Andrews took the opportunity to look at some notes of Ramanujan's that had been gathering dust in Trinity College, Cambridge University. Ramanujan had made the notes in the last year of his life, as he suffered a painful illness. At the time Andrews encountered the notes, it is unlikely that anyone else alive in the world would have understood what they signified. Because Ramanujan never intended the notes for publication, they have proven difficult to decipher and understand.

Together with his collaborator, University of Illinois mathematician Bruce Berndt, Andrews has for the past thirty years carefully studied the 600 or so mathematical results contained in what is now known as Ramanujan's "Lost Notebook". Andrews and Berndt have published one volume about the "Lost Notebook"; one more is about to appear, and two more are in the works. The "Lost Notebook" is likely to be the most significant work done in Ramanujan's short life, and it contains some stellar gems of mathematical insight.

Andrews' main area of research is in number theory, specifically, the theory of partitions and related areas. He has written over 250 research papers and several books. His research has been continuously supported by grants from the National Science Foundation. Twenty students have written PhD theses under his direction. An outstanding teacher, Andrews was named the Evan Pugh Professor of Mathematics in 1981, a distinction that recognizes both teaching and research. He has also maintained a deep interest in mathematics education at the precollege level and has been an advocate for improving the quality of teacher preparation.

Andrews received his PhD in mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1964, with a thesis written under the direction of Hans Rademacher and titled "On the Theorems of Watson and Dragonette for Ramanujan's Mock Theta Functions". Andrews joined the faculty of Pennsylvania State University right after earning his PhD and has remained there for his entire career. He has held visiting positions at institutions all over the world, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Australian National University, the University of Strasbourg, and the University of Linz. He has been a Fulbright Scholar and a Guggenheim Fellow. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1997 and to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2003. He holds three honorary doctorates.