A conversation with Johannes H. B. Kemperman

Abstract

Johannes H. B. Kemperman, born in 1924, received his Bachelor of Science in 1945 and Ph.D. in 1950, each in mathematics and physics, from the University of Amsterdam. From 1948 to 1951 he was a Research Associate at the Mathematical Centre in Amsterdam. During 1951–1953 he was a Visiting Professor on a Fulbright grant at Purdue University, and subsequently he joined the faculty and stayed at Purdue for 10 years, becoming a full Professor in 1959.

In 1961 he went to the University of Rochester, becoming the Fayerweather Professor of Mathematics in 1970. He stayed at Rochester for 25 years. In 1985 he joined the faculty at Rutgers University as a Professor in the Statistics Department and also a voting member of the Mathematics Department. He retired to emeritus status at Rutgers in 1995.

He served in editorial posts at the Annals of Mathematical Statistics, Annals of Probability, Annals of Statistics, Aequationes Mathematicae and Stochastic Processes and Applications. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences and is a Correspondent of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (Amsterdam) .

He has produced 23 Ph.D. students, 3 books and over 100 publications in analysis, number theory, group theory, probability, statistics, functional equations, mathematical biology and other areas.