Author: Eloísa Grifo

David Rush (1943-2023)

We are deeply saddened to share with the community the news of the passing of David Rush, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at UC Riverside (UCR).

“We learned that Professor Emeritus Dave Rush passed away on February 13, 2023. He joined UCR in 1971 and retired in 2018 after almost 50 years. Dave Rush was a dedicated teacher and researcher. He organized the long-running Friday Algebra Seminar at UCR (from 1983 to 2018!). He authored 83 papers, many with his students and the VAPs who came to work with him. His work spans a wide variety of topics in Commutative Algebra, from flat modules to problems on bounding number of generators of ideals, from Bezout domains to study of associated primes of ideals, from lattice modules to Rees algebras. At least a third of his work was with Professor Emeritus Jack Ratliff. Together they made many advances in ideal theory for commutative rings. In fact, a closure operation on ideals was named in their honor, and nowadays the Ratliff-Rush closure of an ideal is an object of interest to many who work in commutative algebra. Prof. Rush supervised 13 Ph.D. students and worked with many visiting assistant professors at UCR, who benefited immensely from his kind nature, his mathematical wisdom, and his support. ” – C. Ciuperca, B. Engheta, I. Henriques, Y. Kim, K. Lin, P. Mantero, J. McCullough, K. Shah, J. Hong, J. Vassilev, and all Dr. Rush’s VAPs

Postdoc at Neuchâtel

A senior postdoc (MA) position for 4 years (renewable for 2 more years) is available at the University of Neuchatel. We also have an opening for a professorship in commutative algebra or algebraic geometry and the idea is that the new MA could collaborate with them in the future. Knowledge of French is required, because the position comes with light teaching duties. The deadline for applying is November 15. Please find the announcement here:

Position in commutative algebra at Neuchâtel

The University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland) invites applications for a position of professor (open rank). Algebraic geometry and commutative algebra are listed as areas of interest. Knowledge of the French language is not needed to apply, but there is an expectation that the new professor will be able to teach in French after an adaptation time. You will find the job advertisement here https://www.unine.ch/sciences/home/emploi.html.

If you have any questions on the position, the Swiss research environment, etc, please feel free to contact Elisa Gorla at elisa.gorla@unine.ch.

Shiro Goto (1946-2022)

We are deeply saddened to share with the community the news of the passing of Shiro Goto on July 26, 2022, at the age of 76. In accordance with the mind of the bereaved family, this announcement has been delayed.

Shiro Goto, courtesy of Kei-ichi Watanabe.

The following is a note we received from Ryo Takahashi:

“Shiro made important contributions to commutative algebra. His early works include the ones about the foundational theory of graded rings with Kei-ichi Watanabe and about the Eisenbud-Goto conjecture. He also deeply investigated the ring structure of blow-up algebras, and the integral closedness of ideals. His main interest in recent years was in establishing the theory of almost Gorenstein rings. He was also a great advisor of a lot of both formal and informal students. His passing is a big loss to our community.”

The following is a note we received from Kei-ichi Watanabe:

“Shiro Goto’s death has left a great void in my life. I had not met him since 2019 because of the covid pandemic, so I will always remember him as energetic and eager for mathematics. Indeed, as I heard from his younger friends, he talked about mathematics problems just a few days before he passed away.

I first met Goto in 1971, at a conference on commutative algebra in Yokohama. Those days Professor Nagata was in Kyoto, and Professor Matsumura was in Nagoya, and we, in Tokyo, had no teacher in commutative algebra. I was running a seminar with I. Kimura, S. Tachibana, and Y. Matsuura, and we agreed to invite Goto to that seminar. The invitation was successful after several tries, and ever since then Goto became a very important figure at the seminar.

The seminar met twice a week; we eagerly studied every interesting topic in commutative algebra in detail, hours at a time, as well as several topics in algebraic geometry. We did not know about our futures: I had a job of “Assistant” at that time, and it took a few years for Goto to get a degree and a job.

In this manner, Goto and I wrote up “On graded rings, I” and then “On affine semigroup rings” (with N. Suzuki), “The structure of one-dimensional F-pure rings,” etc. Also, Goto and I participated in the famous conference “Analytic Methods in Commutative Algebra” in 1979, at George Mason University. We traveled together, full of anxiety — this was our first travel outside Japan.

In 1978, Goto and I organized a symposium in commutative algebra; it later became known as “The 1st Japan Symposium on Commutative Algebra.” It has been organized annually by various commutative algebraists, with “The 43rd Japan Symposium on Commutative Algebra” planned for later this year.

In 1980 I left the seminar, moving to Nagoya Institute of Technology; the seminar was run by Goto at Nihon University, and later at Meiji University. The members of the seminar included Y. Shimoda, K. Yamagishi, K. Nishida, K. Kurano, Y. Nakamura, T. Kawasaki, and many others; the complete list would be far too long, but I should say that I myself have greatly benefitted from the “Goto Seminar.” The seminar began at 1:00 p.m. and speakers went through every detail of the proofs, while Goto and others raised many questions.

Every commutative algebraist knows Goto’s work. His theorems are very deep and sometimes unexpected; he thinks very deeply. He was really great as a mathematician, and also powerful as a teacher and an organizer. He sometimes said to me proudly, “this is how to nurture young students.” We, in Japan, have benefited from many international seminars organized by him. We will remember Goto and his work forever.”