Alexander Soifer is a

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n-born American

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 ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

author. Soifer obtained his Ph.D. in 1973 and has been a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of mathematics at the University of Colorado since 1979. He was visiting fellow at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

from 2002 to 2004, and again in 2006–2007. Soifer also teaches courses on

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

and European cinema. His publications include 13 books and over 400 articles. Every spring, Soifer, along with other mathematician colleagues, sponsors the Soifer Mathematical Olympiad (formerly known as the Colorado Mathematical Olympiad (CMO)) at the

University of Colorado Colorado Springs The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) is a Public university, public research university in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is one of four campuses that make up the University of Colorado system. As of Fall 2023, UCCS had over 11 ...

. Soifer compiles and writes most of the problems for the contest. The CMO was founded by Soifer on April 18, 1983. For the Olympiad's 30th anniversary, the university produced a film about it. In May 2018, in recognition of 35 years of leadership, the judges and winners decided in 2018 to rename the Colorado Mathematical Olympiad to the Soifer Mathematical Olympiad. In 1991 Soifer founded the research quarterly ''Geombinatorics'', and publishes it with the Geombinatorics

editorial board The editorial board is a group of editors, writers, and other people who are charged with implementing a publication's approach to editorials and other opinion pieces. The editorials published normally represent the views or goals of the publicat ...

. In July 2006 at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, Soifer was presented with the Paul Erdős Award by the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions. Soifer was the President of the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions from 2012 to 2018. His

Erdős number The Erdős number () describes the "collaborative distance" between mathematician Paul Erdős and another person, as measured by authorship of mathematical papers. The same principle has been applied in other fields where a particular individual ...

is 1.Erdős, Paul; Soifer, Alexander - Squares in a square. Geombinatorics 4 (1995), no. 4, 110–114

Selected books

* ''The Scholar and the State: In Search of Van der Waerden'' Springer, New York, 2015 (publisher: Birkhauser-Springer, Basel) * ''Mathematics as Problem Solving'' Center for Excellence in Mathematical Education, Colorado Springs, 1987 * ''How does one cut a triangle?'' Center for Excellence in Mathematical Education, Colorado Springs, 1990 * ''Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: The First Ten Years and Further Explorations'' Center for Excellence in Mathematical Education, Colorado Springs, 1991 * ''Geometric Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics'' Center for Excellence in Mathematical Education, Colorado Springs, 1994 * '' The Mathematical Coloring Book'' Springer, New York 2009 * ''Mathematics as Problem Solving'' 2nd ed. Springer, New York 2009 * ''How Does One Cut a Triangle?'' 2nd ed. Springer, New York 2009 * ''The Colorado Mathematical Olympiad and Further Explorations: From the Mountains of Colorado to the Peaks of Mathematics'' Springer, New York 2011 * ''The Colorado Mathematical Olympiad; The Third Decade and Further Explorations: From the Mountains of Colorado to the Peaks of Mathematics'' Springer, New York 2017 * ''Geometric Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics'' 2nd ed. Springer, New York 2010 * ''Ramsey Theory: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, (editor and contributor)'' Birkhäuser-Springer 2011 * ''Life and Fate: In Search of Van der Waerden'', appeared in November 2008 in Russian. The expanded English edition, ''The Scholar and the State: In Search of Van der Waerden'', was published by Birkhäuser-Springer in 2017. *
The New Mathematical Coloring Book
', Springer, New York, 2024. The new 2024 book doubles the volume of the original 2009 monograph.

Geombinatorics

''Geombinatorics'' is a quarterly

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...

. It was established by

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

Alexander Soifer in 1991 and is published by the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. The journal covers problems in

discrete Discrete may refer to: *Discrete particle or quantum in physics, for example in quantum theory * Discrete device, an electronic component with just one circuit element, either passive or active, other than an integrated circuit * Discrete group, ...

convex Convex or convexity may refer to: Science and technology * Convex lens, in optics Mathematics * Convex set, containing the whole line segment that joins points ** Convex polygon, a polygon which encloses a convex set of points ** Convex polytop ...

, and

combinatorial geometry Discrete geometry and combinatorial geometry are branches of geometry that study combinatorial properties and constructive methods of discrete geometric objects. Most questions in discrete geometry involve finite or discrete sets of basic geom ...

, as well as related areas. The journal is indexed in

Zentralblatt MATH zbMATH Open, formerly Zentralblatt MATH, is a major reviewing service providing reviews and abstracts for articles in pure and applied mathematics, produced by the Berlin office of FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastru ...

Excellence in Research for Australia Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) is Australia's national research evaluation framework, developed and administered by the Australian Research Council (ARC). The first full round of ERA occurred in 2010, and subsequent rounds followed ...

, and

MathSciNet MathSciNet is a searchable online bibliographic database created by the American Mathematical Society in 1996. It contains all of the contents of the journal ''Mathematical Reviews'' (MR) since 1940 along with an extensive author database, links ...

References

External links

*
''Geombinatorics''Soifer Mathematical Olympiad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soifer, Alexander American textbook writers 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians 1948 births Mathematicians from Moscow University of Colorado Colorado Springs faculty Living people 21st-century American male writers 20th-century American male writers