Obituary of John Aczel

ACZEL, John (János) (PhD.)1924 – 2020János Aczel, UWaterloo professor emeritus of mathematics, died peacefully Wednesday following a brief illness. He had celebrated his 95th birthday only six days prior.Loving husband of the late Susan Aczel (2010). Beloved father of Catherine Aczel Boivie (Stellan) and Julie More (Michael). Cherished grandfather of Thomas Boivie, the late Robert More, and Rebecca More. Special Greatgrandfather to Abuk. Predeceased by his parents Dezso and Irene Aczel. Born in Budapest, Hungary John spent his early years earning a doctorate in mathematical analysis from the University of Budapest and holding positions at the University of Cologne, Kossuth University, University of Miskolc, and University of Szeged before moving to Canada with his family in 1965 at which time he joined the faculty at the University of Waterloo, becoming a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Pure Mathematics. Throughout his successful career he was the founder of the journal Aequationes Mathematicae, first published in 1968, and remains its honorary editor-in-chief, held honorary degrees from the University of Karlsruhe, the University of Graz, and the University of Silesia in Katowice. In 1971, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 1990 he became an external member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and in 2008 he became an honorary member of the Hamburg Mathematical Society, the oldest active mathematical society in the world. He was the 1988 winner of the Santiago Ramón y Cajal Medal and in 2004 he won the Kampé de Fériet Award of the annual Information Processing and Management of Uncertainty conference, "for his pioneering work on the theory of functional equations, with applications in many fields, such as information measures, index numbers, group decision making, aggregation, production functions, laws of science, theory of measurement and utility theory." Issues of the journal Aequationes Mathematicae were dedicated to Aczél in 1999, 2005, and 2010, in honor of his 75th, 80th, and 85th birthdays. Aczél authored and co-authored:Aczél, J.; Gołąb, S. (1960), Funktionalgleichungen der Theorie der geometrischen Objekte, Polska Akademia Nauk. Monografie Matematyczne; Aczél, J. (1966), Lectures on functional equations and their applications, mathematics in Science and Engineering - Previously published in German as Vorlesungen über Funktionalgleichungen und ihre Anwendungen (Birkhäuser, 1961); Aczél, J.; Daróczy, Z. (1975), On measures of information and their characterizations, Mathematics in Science and Engineering; Aczél, J. (1987), A short course on functional equations, Theory and Decision Library. Series B: Mathematical and Statistical Methods, Dordrecht; Aczél, J.; Dhombres, J. (1989), Functional equations in several variables, Encyclopedia of Mathematics and its ApplicationsFriends are invited to share their memories of John with his family during a Celebration of his Life, at Capital Funeral Home and Cemetery, 3700 Prince of Wales Dr., Nepean on Sunday, January 26 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm, and at the University of Waterloo on Friday, April 17 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm (please RSVP to j.aczel2020@gmail.com). While we all mourn his loss, we will always treasure our memories of his life and recall his gentle, caring attitude and wisdom. The Aczel family believes that his passion for mathematics will continue through the talented graduate students who continue to push forward the boundaries of mathematics and pure reason. Their future discoveries will result in far-reaching benefits for Canada at home and abroad. To this end, they have established the János and Susan Aczel Graduate Scholarship at the University of Waterloo.In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory can be made to the Susan and Janos Aczel Graduate Scholarship on-line at: http://bit.ly/JanosAczel and specifying the scholarship fund or by calling 1-800-408-8715.