Ranjan Roy (1948 – 2020) was an Indian-born American mathematician. He spent most of his career as a professor at

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1846 when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It has an enrollment of roughly 1,000 undergradua ...

Education

Roy received a BS degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, an MS in mathematics from the

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT- Kanpur or IIT-K) is a public institute of technology located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. As an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), it was declared an Institute of National Importance by ...

, and a PhD at

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

Career

After receiving his PhD, Roy taught at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

for a short time, then returned to India where he took posts at the

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT- Delhi) is a Public university, public institute of technology located in Delhi, India. It is one of the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology created to be a Centre of Excellence for India's training, res ...

and

Himachal Pradesh University Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) is a Public university, public State university (India), state university at Summer Hill, Shimla, Summer Hill, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. It was established on 22 July 1970 by ''The Himachal Pradesh University A ...

, and received a fellowship at the

Indian Institute of Advanced Study The Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) is a research institute located in Shimla, India. It was set up by the Ministry of Education, Government of India in 1964 and started functioning from 20 October 1965. History and establishment The ...

. After spending two years at the Institute, he joined the Mathematics Institute at Punjab University as a Reader. He returned to the U.S. at SUNY Plattsburgh. In 1982, Roy joined Beloit College, spending the rest of his career there. He became the Ralph C. Huffer Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy, and at the time of his death, he was the chair of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department.

Publications

Roy published many papers on differential equations, fluid mechanics, special functions, Fuchsian groups, and the history of mathematics. He authored three advanced mathematics books: ''Sources in the Development of Mathematics'' (2011), ''Elliptic and Modular Functions from Gauss to Dedekind to Hecke'' (2017) and the posthumously published ''Series and Products in the Development of Mathematics'' (2021) all published by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

. He is a coauthor of the book ''Special Functions'' (with G. E. Andrews and R. Askey), published by Cambridge University Press in 1999.

Awards

Roy earned several recognitions for distinguished mathematics teaching, including the following: * In 2003, Roy was one of three professors to receive the Deborah and Franklin Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics. * The MAA Carl B. Allendoerfer Award * The MAA Wisconsin Section teaching award * Teacher of the Year honors from Beloit College in 1986 & 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Ranjan Beloit College people Beloit College faculty American academics of Indian descent 20th-century American mathematicians Stony Brook University alumni 1948 births 2020 deaths