I am 80 years old but still I work as Professor at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. Moreover, I work as Senior Professor at Karlstad University in Sweden and I am Professor Emeritus at Uppsala University in Sweden. I have also worked as Professor in Mathematics at Luleå University of Technology for a long period and also at Lund University for a shorter time. From 2005 I am also honorary professor at Eurasian National University, Astana, Kazakhstan.
I have been supervisor for 71 students with PhD exams and additionally 14 with Licentiate exams. This is a record in nordic countries and I think in all of Eurupe. And it is well-known that it is to few females in higher mathematics so even more outstanding is that out of these 71, remarkable 31 are females. A confirmation of this fact is the following: The “network for females” in Sweden initiated a special award (“Louise Petren´s award”) for outstanding contributions to change this situation. And unbeleivable enough I got this award the first time it was distributed, and I think that still I am the only man who has got it.
At the moment I am supervisor for 6 PhD students in mathematics or engineering mathematics at four different universities but mostly I still work in Luleå, not on the university, but what guest researchers and PhD students call PIEM( Persson Institute of Engineering Mathematics) equipped with the well known Hotel Infinity. The areas of research for my students, current and previous ones, and their current positions can be found on the link PhD exams below.
I grow up in the small and nice village Svanabyn under very hard conditions, e.g. I was the only one which survived of what was meant to be 9 brothers and sisters. But as a miracle my fantastic mother Dagmar and legendary doctor Sten Strömbom saved my life. He also took care of me four important study years at “realskolan” in Dorotea and became my mentor. I even could stay in his home so here I got the first inspiration of my later creation Hotel Infinity, and I learnt a lot of important things also for my further life e.g. that there exists something called university and that I could get a carrier there. This was the remarkable starting point of my carrier shortly described on this homepage.
I took my PhD exam in Mathematics in 1974 at Umeå University and after that I have mostly been working at Luleå University of Technology for 43 years. I mean that people outside the university regarded me as a symbol and ambassador for an important part of the university (both in Sweden and abroad) . This was in a sense confirmed when I got the prestigous “Ångpanneföreningens award” 2008 (100 000 SEK) for my outstanding work to transfer important knowledge to the world outside the university (at most one researcher (all subjects) in Sweden can receive this award each year). I am the only mathematician in Sweden who got this award. At Luleå University of Technology I got several awards, e.g. at academic celebrations I got at different occasions awards as best supervisor, best researcher and best teacher.
During this time I came in contact with more and more researchers both in Sweden and abroad. Out of these I think that my contact with famous Professor Jaak Peetre in Lund was the most important one for my development to the Pers(s)on I am today. Indeed, even if I then was not so well known, he beleved in me and liked me and I could for free stay in his home in Lund for longer and shorter periods. This was absolutely the second inspiration for me to create my own Hotel Infinity.
I was the President of the Swedish Mathematical Society 1996-1998 and I have been ordinary member 1995-2010 (secretary during 1995-2002) of the National Committee of Mathematics equipped with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. I have also been chairman 4 years for the board at Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet). which distributes governments money for research in the mathematical sciences. Moreover, I initiated Center of Applied Mathematics at Luleå University of Technology 1995 and was its Director till 2005. During 2008-2009 I was director of Center of Interdisciplinary Mathematics (CIM) at Uppsala University.
If you want to know more about me and my scientific work and the awards I have received you can look at my Curriculum Vitae and my list of publications below. See also my remarkable list of coauthors/coeditors (at the moment around 170 persons from 42 different countries!).
I am also interested in berry picking, fishing and sports, mostly skiings. In particular, I have so far participated and always finalized the famous Swedish ski competition Vasa run (Vasaloppet) at 76 different occasions (48 times the ordinary day and 28 times as so called “Vasaloppet-Open track” the week before). For more information see the link “sport” below. This year I was awarded a prestigious medal with number 56 = the amount of skiers who have succeeded to fulfill this 90 km skiing competition in 50 years (during all of its more than 100 years history).
Finally I will shortly describe my “second blooming period” 2018.2024:
THE DRAMATIC YEAR 2018. Shortly the following happened:
a) I got a very serious heart attack connected to one of my Vasaruns, and very close to that.
b) I was, for me completely unexpected, divorced from Luleå University of Technology (the university of his heart in 43 years).
THE REMARKABLE RECOVERY As described above I am known as a fighter from my early childhood so I had no idea to give up also under these heavy conditions a) and b) and, miraculously enough, with support of very understanding family, especially my fantastic wife, friends, collaborators and several universities around the world I could after some time continue my successful PhD education and research.
For exmple, in the period 2018-2024 I have published more than 50 papers in very good international Journals, four new research books in very good companies and 12 PhD students have finalized successfully their PhD exams with me as a responsible scientific supervisor (out of the 71 mentioned above). Moreover, at the moment I am a supervisor for 6 PhD students at four different universities.
But also under these dramatically changed conditions and several attempts to convince me to move to the towns of my current working places I have choosed to mostly stay in my wonderful town Luleå ,where my house early was well known as “Hotel Infinity” since so many students and researchers around the world have lived there for longer or shorter periods. So most of the supervision have been done there and in the equipped PIEM (see above).
CURRENT SITUATION AND CONCLUSION. From 2021 I have moved to a nice flat in south harbor in Luleå and the famous Hilbert construction (Hotel Infinity) and my own construction PIEM have accompanied me there. This means that, miraculously enough, I survived not only the dramatic year 1944 but also the dramatic year 2018 and recovered in a remarkable good way. This was recently confirmed in a conference dedicted to me , arranged by three of “my”current universities:
THE KARLSTAD CONFERENCE 18-23 August, 2024, for me, with the remarkable title “The 50, 70, 80 conference in mathematics- see https://www.kau.se/507080conferencemathematics
It was arranged jointly by Karlstad University, Sweden, UiT The Arctic University of Norway and Czech Technical University in Prague. Professors and researchers from 23 different countries came and delivered lectures to my honor. This international team of supporters will publish their contributions in a Proceedings book dedicted to me in a good company. Moreover, a thematic issue will be published to my honor in a first class mathematical/technical Journal
In connection to the conference I got some new international awards and the following two are maybe the most prestigous awards I ever have got:
(1) The worthy medal of the Ministry of Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhsta for ” outstanding contributions to be the man who opened the doors for Kazkastans to achieve their PhD abroad (so far 11 students in Kazakhstan have finalized their PhD exams in such joint supervision, with Lars-Erik as one of the supervisors.)
(2). An international medal given from the hand of the Presedent of the Czech Mathematical Society Prof RNdr Lubos Pick with motivation: “For his outstanding results as researcher, supervisor, teacher and author of books”. In his talk it was especially pronounced that I have been a supervisor of 71 students with PhD exams, of of which 31 are fimales
SUMMING UP AFTER 80 YEARS: In my selfreflection I have tried to summerize the miracles described above as follows:”Optimism, persistance and honesty are my golden guiding stars “/Lars-Erik Persson, 2024. But in fact , this I learnt already from my unique mother Dagmar but only now after 80 years I was able to understand this Is this the sign that I am on the way to meet her again ?
A professional photographer named Patrik Öhman took some great photos of me 2019-09-09 and later on 2020-09-10.
They can be used in publications and similar after asking me for permissions. Of course also Patrik has permissions to use these pictures on his own blogg
