Abdul–Aziz Yakubu (4 April 1958 – 14 August 2022) was a

mathematical biologist Mathematical and theoretical biology, or biomathematics, is a branch of biology which employs theoretical analysis, mathematical models and abstractions of the Organism, living organisms to investigate the principles that govern the structure, dev ...

. Yakubu was a professor at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

for over 20 years and served as chair of the mathematics department from 2004 to 2014.
Howard University Mourns the Loss of Abdul-Aziz Yakubu
'. National Association of Mathematicians Newsletter. 2022. Volume 53 (issue 2):15.

Early life and education

Abdul-Aziz Yakubu was born on 4 April 1958 in Accra, the capital city of

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

. He attended

Accra Academy Accra Academy is a non-denominational day and boarding boys' school. It is located at Bubuashie near Kaneshie in the Greater Accra Region. The school was established as a private secondary educational institution in 1931 and gained the status of a ...

for high school education. Yakubu became interested in math while studying at the University of Ghana - Legon, where he earned his B.S in mathematics and computer science in 1982. In 1985, Yakubu earned his master's degree in applied mathematics from the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of ...

in Ohio. Before continuing to Howard University, he attended

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universi ...

and received his doctoral degree in applied mathematics in 1990. For his Ph.D., he wrote his dissertation, "Discrete time competitive systems" under the advisement of John Franke.

Career

Yakubu’s first research experience was at North Carolina State University, and his first faculty position was held at Howard University, a historically black research university (HBCU) in Washington, D.C. While at Howard he spent a year as a long-term visitor by participating in “Mathematics in Biology” at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. The program at the University of Minnesota allowed him to make connections to further his positive contributions to the world, especially his research on infectious diseases in Africa. Two years after his long-term visit, he took a two-year leave from Howard University in 2002 to visit the Department of Statistics and Computational Biology at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

, where he collaborated with

Carlos Castillo-Chavez Carlos Castillo-Chavez (born 1952) is a Mexican-American mathematician who was Regents Professor and Joaquín Bustoz Jr. Professor of Mathematical Biology at Arizona State University. Castillo-Chavez was founder and the Executive Director of the ...

. After his Cornell experience, he returned to Howard University to focus on mathematical biology. Yakubu had a successful collaboration in scholarly work on exploited fisheries with scientists at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center of

Woods Hole, Massachusetts Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 781 ...

. He worked on projects that investigated biodiversity and infectious diseases with

Avner Friedman Avner Friedman ( he, אבנר פרידמן; born November 19, 1932) is Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Physical Sciences at Ohio State University. His primary field of research is partial differential equations, with interests in stoc ...

of the Mathematical Bioscience Institute students at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pu ...

and his graduate students at Howard University. His research on mathematical biology helped him connect with students and researchers internationally. Yakubu has attended and presented his contributions at several research conferences and workshops in Europe and Asia. The

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

funded DIMACS-MBI Africa initiative, led by Avner Friedmann,

Marty Golubitsky Martin Aaron Golubitsky is an American Distinguished professor of mathematics at Ohio State University and the former director of the Mathematical Biosciences Institute. Biography Education Marty Golubitsky was born on April 5, 1945 in Philadel ...

, Fred Roberts as well as the NSF-funded Masamu project of Overton Jenda. It made it possible for him to give several lectures in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west- central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...

, Ghana,

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...

, and

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...

. Yakubu left on sabbatical leave to MBI.DIMACS in Piscataway, New Jersey, MBI in Columbus, Ohio, NIMBioS in Knoxville, Tennessee, and similar mathematical biology institutes. Yakubu published his research in several academic journals like the

Bulletin of Mathematical Biology The Society for Mathematical Biology (SMB) is an international association co-founded in 1972 in the United States by George Karreman, Herbert Daniel Landahl and (initially chaired) by Anthony Bartholomay for the furtherance of joint scientific act ...

Journal of Mathematical Biology '' Journal of Mathematical Biology'' is a peer-reviewed, mathematics journal, published by Springer Verlag. Founded in 1974, the journal publishes articles on mathematical biology. In particular, papers published in this journal 'should either pro ...

Mathematical Biosciences ''Mathematical Biosciences'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing work that provides new concepts or new understanding of biological systems using mathematical models, or methodological articles likely to find application to mul ...

SIAM Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and Journal of Applied Mathematics. He was a member and held leadership roles in professional mathematics organizations, including the Society for Mathematical Biology, Mathematical Bioscience Institute of the Ohio State and

DIMACS The Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS) is a collaboration between Rutgers University, Princeton University, and the research firms AT&T, Bell Labs, Applied Communication Sciences, and NEC. It was founded in ...

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and wa ...

. From 2007 to 2016, he served as Chair of the World Outreach Committee of the Society for Mathematical Biology. Yakubu died on August 14, 2022. As of November 2022, the editors of the Journal of Biological Dynamics are working on a special issue to be published in remembrance of Yakubu. The special edition will cover topics inspired by or related to Yakubu's work in mathematics and population biology. On 6-7 April 2024, during the Spring Eastern Sectional Meeting at

in Washington, D.C., the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings ...

held a ''Special Session on the Mathematics of Infectious Diseases'' in memory of Dr. Yakubu. Over the two days, 19 presentations were made in his honor.

Selected publications

* ''Mathematical Approaches For Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases: Models, Methods and Theory'', Springer-Verlag, Volume 125, Edited by

with Sally Blower,

Pauline van den Driessche Pauline van den Driessche (born 1941) is a British and Canadian applied mathematician who is a professor emerita in the department of mathematics and statistics at the University of Victoria, where she has also held an affiliation in the depa ...

Denise Kirschner Denise Ellen Kirschner is an American mathematical biologist and immunologist whose research topics include granulomas, HIV, tuberculosis, and the mechanisms by which disease pathogens interact with and persist in their hosts. She is a professor ...

and Abdul-Aziz Yakubu (2002) * ''Mathematical Approaches For Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases: Models, Methods and Theory'', Springer-Verlag, Volume 126, Edited by Carlos Castillo-Chavez with Sally Blower, Pauline van den Driessche, Denise Kirschner and Abdul-Aziz Yakubu (2002)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yakubu, Abdul-Aziz 1958 births 2022 deaths Howard University faculty African mathematicians 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians American people of Ghanaian descent University of Ghana alumni Scientists from Accra University of Toledo alumni North Carolina State University alumni