Arakaparampil Mathai "Arak" Mathai (born 28 April 1935) is an Indian

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

who has worked in statistics, applied

analysis Analysis (: analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

, applications of special functions, and

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

. Mathai established the Centre for Mathematical Sciences,

Palai Pallai (, ), also spelt Palai, is a small town in the Kilinochchi District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka. The town is located under the division of the Pachilaipally Divisional Secretary and is administered by the Pachilaipally Pradeshiya Sa ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, India. Mathai has published more than 25 books and more than 300 research publications. In 1998 he received the Founder Recognition Award from the Statistical Society of Canada. He is a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, India and a fellow of the

Institute of Mathematical Statistics The Institute of Mathematical Statistics is an international professional and scholarly society devoted to the development, dissemination, and application of statistics and probability. The Institute currently has about 4,000 members in all parts ...

.Centre for Mathematical Sciences, India, receives research grant.
IMS Bulletin, vol. 36, no. 3, April 2007

Early years

Mathai was born in Arakulam near Palai in the

Idukki district Idukki (ഇടുക്കി; ) is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala in the southwest of the country. It is the largest district in Kerala and lies amid the Cardamom Hills of Western Ghats in Kerala. Idukki district co ...

, India as the eldest son of Aley and Arakaparampil Mathai. After completing his high school education in 1953 from St. Thomas High School, Palai, with record marks he joined St. Thomas College, Palai, and obtained his B Sc. degree in mathematics in 1957. In 1959 he completed his master's degree in statistics from

University of Kerala University of Kerala (formerly known as University of Travancore) is a state-run public university in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chithi ...

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

, Kerala, India, with first class, first rank and gold medal. Then he joined St. Thomas College, Palai, University of Kerala, as a lecturer in Statistics and served there until 1961. He obtained Canadian Commonwealth scholarship in 1961 and went to University of Toronto, Canada, for completing his MA degree in mathematics in 1962. He was awarded his PhD from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1964, then joined

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

as an assistant professor until 1968. From 1968 to 1978 he was an associate professor there. He became a full professor at McGill in 1979 and served the department of mathematics and statistics until 2000. From 2000 onwards he was an

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

professor of McGill University.

Selected publications

* Random p-content of a p-parallelotope in Euclidean ''n''-space, ''Advances in Applied Probability'', 31(2), 343–354 (1999). * ''An Introduction to Geometrical Probability: Distributional Aspects with Applications'', Gordon and Breach, Newark, (1999). * ''Jacobians of Matrix Transformations and Functions of Matrix Argument'',

World Scientific Publishing World Scientific Publishing is an academic publisher of scientific, technical, and medical books and journals headquartered in Singapore. The company was founded in 1981. It publishes about 600 books annually, with more than 170 journals in var ...

, New York, (1997). * Appell's and Humbert's functions of matrix arguments, ''Linear Algebra and Its Applications'', 183, 202–221, (1993). * On non-central generalized Laplacianness of quadratic forms in normal variables, ''Journal of Multivariate Analysis'', 45, 239–246, (1993). * (With S.B. Provost), ''Quadratic Forms in random Variables: Theory and Applications'',

Marcel Dekker Marcel Dekker was a journal and encyclopedia publishing company with editorial boards found in New York City. Dekker encyclopedias are now published by CRC Press, part of the Taylor and Francis publishing group. History Initially a textbook publ ...

, New York, (1992). * On a system of differential equations connected with the gravitational instability in a multi-component medium in Newtonian cosmology,

Studies in Applied Mathematics The journal ''Studies in Applied Mathematics'' is published by Wiley–Blackwell on behalf of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It features scholarly articles on mathematical applications in allied fields, notably computer science, ...

, 80, 75–93, (1989). * (With H.J. Haubold), Modern Problems in Nuclear and Neutrino Astrophysics, ''

Akademie-Verlag :''There also were unrelated publishing houses in Stuttgart and in (East-)Berlin, and there is the (JAVG).'' Akademie Verlag (AV) is a German scientific and academic publishing company, founded in 1946 in the Soviet-occupied eastern part ...

'', Berlin. * On a conjecture in geometric probability regarding asymptotic normality of a random simplex, ''Annals of Probability'', 10, 247–251, (1982). * (With R.S. Katiyar), Exact percentage points for testing independence,

Biometrika ''Biometrika'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Oxford University Press for the Biometrika Trust. The editor-in-chief is Paul Fearnhead (Lancaster University). The principal focus of this journal is theoretical statistics. It was ...

, 66, 353–356, (1979). * (With P.N. Rathie), Recent contributions to axiomatic definitions of information and statistical measures through functional equations. In, ''Essays in Probability and Statistics'', Ikeda and others editors, Shinto, Tsusho, Tokyo, pp. 607–633,(1976). * (With T.A. Davis), Constructing the sunflower head, ''Mathematical Biosciences'', 20, 117–133, (1974).

References

External links

A. M. Mathai personal webpage
Department of Mathematics,

Complete list of publications of A. M. Mathai
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathai, A. M. Academic staff of McGill University 20th-century Indian mathematicians 1935 births Living people University of Kerala alumni People from Pala, Kerala Fellows of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics Scientists from Kerala Indian statisticians