Robert F. Coleman 1954–2014

Abstract

1 Biography Robert F. Coleman, an extraordinarily original and creative mathematician who has had a profound influence on modern number theory and arithmetic geometry, died of a sudden heart attack in El Cerrito, CA, on the morning of March 24, 2014. He is survived by his wife Tessa, his sister Rosalind, and brother Mark, his nephew Jeffrey, and niece Elise, and his service dog Julep. The depth and importance of his mathematical ideas, his congeniality, the joy radiating from his playful disposition, and his sheer inexhaustible energy—all this in the face of Multiple Sclerosis, a condition that did not deter him from full engagement with life—made Robert an inspiration to his friends, family, students, and colleagues. Robert also worked toward making civic structures and laws more appropriate for people with disabilities. His activism is yet another reason that Robert was so widely admired. Robert was born on November 22, 1954 in Glen Cove, NY, USA. He displayed an early talent for mathematics, winning an Intel Science Talent Search Award in 1972 as a high school student. He earned a mathematics degree from Harvard University and subsequently completed Part III of the mathematical tripos at Cambridge, where he did research under the supervision of John Coates. By the time he entered graduate school at Princeton, Robert had essentially already written his doctoral dissertation, but his formal thesis advisor was Kenkichi Iwasawa. His dissertation, entitled “Division Values in Local Fields,” is considered a landmark contribution to local class field theory. After completing his Ph.D., Robert returned to his alma mater, Harvard University, as a Benjamin Peirce Assistant Professor and Research Associate. He came to UC Berkeley as an Open Access