I. Martin Isaacs

Irving Martin Isaacs (April 14, 1940 – February 17, 2025) was an American group theorist and representation theorist. He was a professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

I. Martin Isaacs
Born	(1940-04-14)April 14, 1940
Died	February 17, 2025(2025-02-17) (aged 84)
Scientific career
Fields	Group theory, mathematics
Institutions	University of Chicago University of Wisconsin–Madison

Biography

Isaacs was born in the Bronx, in New York City, on April 14, 1940.^[1][2] He received a BS from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1960.^[2] While a student there, he was named a Putnam Fellow for his performance in the 1959 William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition.^[3]

Isaacs went on to Harvard University for graduate study. He received a master's degree in 1961,^[2] and completed his PhD in 1964. His thesis was advised by Richard Brauer,^[4] and was titled Finite ${\displaystyle p}$-solvable linear groups.^[5] After a few years at the University of Chicago as an instructor and visiting assistant professor, Isaacs moved to the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1969.^[2] He was hired as an associate professor, and promoted to full professor in 1971.^[2] According to the Mathematics Genealogy Project, he supervised 29 doctoral students over his career.^[4]

In 2011, Isaacs retired and became a professor emeritus.^[6][7][8] In retirement, he lived in Berkeley, California and was an occasional participant on MathOverflow.^[8] Near the end of his life, he endowed a prize for "Excellence in Mathematical Writing," first awarded in 2025.^[1][9]

Work

Isaacs is known as the author of graduate-level textbooks on character theory and group theory.^[6] His book Character Theory of Finite Groups has been described as a classic in the field.^[10]

Isaacs is also known for formulating the Isaacs–Navarro conjecture along with Gabriel Navarro, a widely cited generalization of the McKay conjecture.^[11][12]

Personal life

Isaacs was seriously injured in an automobile accident in France in 1964, shortly after receiving his PhD. The accident left him scarred and disabled.^[1][6]

He died of kidney failure on February 17, 2025.^[1][6]

Awards and honors

In 2009, a conference was held at the Universitat de Valencia in Spain to honor his contributions.^[13] Following the conference, a festschrift was published by the American Mathematical Society.^[14]

Isaacs was the recipient of a Sloan Foundation research award in 1971.^[6] He was inaugurated as a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society in 2013.^[15]

Isaacs was a Pólya lecturer for the Mathematical Association of America between 2003 and 2005.^[6]

Books

• Isaacs, I. Martin (1976). Character Theory of Finite Groups. Academic Press. ISBN 0123745500. (reprinted by Dover Publications in 1994, reprinted by the American Mathematical Society in 2006 ISBN 0821842293)^[16][10]
• Isaacs, I. Martin (1994). Algebra: A Graduate Course. Brooks Cole. ISBN 0534190022. (reprinted by the American Mathematical Society in 2009 ISBN 0821847996)^[17]
• Isaacs, I. Martin (2001). Geometry for College Students. Pure and Applied Mathematics 8. Brooks Cole. ISBN 0534351794. (reprinted by the American Mathematical Society in 2009 ISBN 0821847945)^[18]
• Isaacs, I. Martin (2008). Finite Group Theory. American Mathematical Society. ISBN 0821843443. 2011 reprint with corrections^[19]
• Isaacs, I. Martin (2018). Characters of Solvable Groups. American Mathematical Society. ISBN 9781470434854.^[20]