Polly Wee Sy is a Filipino mathematician specializing in

functional analysis Functional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis, the core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces endowed with some kind of limit-related structure (for example, Inner product space#Definition, inner product, Norm (mathematics ...

. She is a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, 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". ...

of mathematics at the

University of the Philippines Diliman The University of the Philippines Diliman (also called UPD; ), also referred to as UP Diliman, is a State university and college (Philippines), public, coeducational, Research university, research university located in Diliman, Quezon City, Ph ...

, the former head of the mathematics department at the university, and the former president of the Southeast Asia Mathematical Society. Sy has a bachelor's degree, master's degree, and Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of the Philippines Diliman, earned in 1974, 1977, and 1982 respectively. Her doctoral dissertation, ''Köthe duals and matrix transformations'', was supervised by Singaporean mathematician Peng Yee Lee. She also has a second doctorate, a 1992 D.Sc. from

Nagoya University , abbreviated to or NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya. It was established in 1939 as the last of the nine Imperial Universities in the then Empire of Japan, and is now a Designated National Universit ...

. Sy chaired the mathematics department at the University of the Philippines Diliman twice, from 1994 to 1996 and 1999 to 2002, and served as president of the Southeast Asia Mathematical Society from 1998 to 1999. She became a full professor at the university in 2000, and retired to become a professor emeritus in 2019. In 1988 the Philippine

National Academy of Science and Technology The National Academy of Science and Technology (''abbreviated as ''NAST PHL) is the highest recognition and scientific advisory body of the Philippines under the Department of Science and Technology (Philippines), Department of Science and Techn ...

gave Sy their Outstanding Young Scientist Award and in 1992 they gave her their Science Prize. In 2013 the Institute of Mathematics of the University of the Philippines Diliman held a workshop in honor of Sy's 60th birthday.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sy, Polly Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Functional analysts University of the Philippines Diliman alumni Nagoya University alumni Academic staff of the University of the Philippines Diliman 20th-century Filipino mathematicians 20th-century women mathematicians 21st-century Filipino mathematicians 21st-century women mathematicians