Alexander Soifer

Alexander Soifer
Alexander Soifer, October, 2007, Colorado
Born	Alexander Soifer (1948-08-14) August 14, 1948 Moscow, Russian SFSR
Alma mater	Moscow State Pedagogical University
Occupation(s)	Professor, Author
Scientific career
Doctoral advisor	Leonid Kulikov; Pál Erdős

Alexander Soifer is a Russian-born American mathematician and mathematics author. His works include about 300 articles, and about 10 books.

Soifer received his Ph.D. in 1973. Soifer has been a professor of mathematics at the University of Colorado since 1979. He was visiting fellow at Princeton University 2002–2004, and again 2006–2007. Soifer also teaches courses on European cinema. Soifer's Erdős number is 1.

Every spring, Soifer, along with other mathematician colleagues, sponsor the Colorado Mathematical Olympiad (CMO) at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Soifer compiles (and writes some of) the problems for the contest. The CMO was started on April 18, 1983.

In 1991 Soifer founded the research quarterly "Geombinatorics", and publishes it with the Editorial Board, which includes Ronald L. Graham, Branko Grünbaum, Heiko Harborth, Peter D. Johnson Jr., and János Pach. Paul Erdős was also an editor.

In July 2006 at the University of Cambridge, Alexander Soifer was presented with "The Paul Erdos" Award" by the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions.

Soifer is currently the President of the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions.

Soifer's current projects include new publications and new expanded editions through scientific publisher, Springer of previously published books, "Mathematics as Problem Solving," "How does one cut a triangle?," "Geometric Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics," and "Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: The First Ten Years and Further Explorations." The latter aforementioned title is expected to be expanded to cover twenty years of the Colorado Mathematical Olympiad, which is currently in its 26th year running.

Soifer is the father of four children, Mark Soifer, Julia Soifer, Isabelle Soifer and Leon Soifer.

Selected Books

• 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 of Coloring and the Colorful Life of Its Creators, has been in the works for 28 years.
• 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
• Geometric Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics 2nd ed. Springer, New York 2010
• Ramsey Theory: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Birkhäuser-Springer 2011

• Life and Fate: In Search of Van der Waerden, appeared in November 2008 in Russian. This book is the report of a 12-year historical investigation into the life of the great 20th-century algebraist Bartel Leendert van der Waerden, the author of one of the most popular mathematical books of all time, Modern Algebra. The expanded English edition is to be published by Birkhäuser-Springer in 2014.

Books in Progress

• “Life and Fate: In Search of Van der Waerden,” Birkhäuser-Springer, Basel, to appear in 2014

• “Problems of pgom Erdös,” Springer, New York, to appear in 2015

• “Memory in Flashback: A Mathematician’s Adventures on Both Sides of the Atlantic,” Birkhäuser-Springer, Basel, to appear in 2016

• “Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: The Third Decade and Further Explorations,” Springer

External links

• List of publications
• Alexander Soifer's web homepage
• Alexander Soifer's Books in Springer