Spring 2002 -- Vol. 19, No. 1

FACES OF PENN STATE

George Andrews
Evan Pugh Professor of Mathematics

Would-be lawyer George Andrews discovered his love of mathematics in college, and that motivated him to become one of the world’s foremost mathematicians, widely regarded as a researcher and as a teacher.

When George Andrews arrived at Penn State in 1964, he was one of the youngest members in the Department of Mathematics. Today, he’s one of the veterans.

Thirty-seven years ago, the University’s mainframe computer was located in the basement of Old Main with four refrigerator-size units providing half a megabyte of memory. Today, the laptop that Andrews carries exponentially dwarfs that computing capacity.

Still, as much as things have changed, they also have remained the same. Especially Andrews’ enthusiasm.

“Mathematics has an elegance, a beauty, and an excitement of exploration that never gets old,” Andrews says. “It’s continually satisfying.”

With advice from a high school guidance counselor—who told Andrews it was impossible to get a job in life that he would enjoy, so he should at least get a job in which he would do well—Andrews planned to combine his scientific skills with a pragmatic path and become a patent lawyer. Along the way, he discovered mathematics and, with the guidance of an inspiring teacher, his career path changed.

“Mathematics just came alive,” Andrews says. “Before that, it had never occurred to me to become a mathematician.”

He did not become just a mathematician, though. He became one of the best in world. His research includes number theory and partitions (writing a whole number as the sum of smaller numbers), and he has found applications and ongoing challenges on a regular basis.

In 1971, he was the first to use computers to search for partitions. In 1976, he discovered a lost manuscript of the Indian genius, Ramanujan. Andrews’ efforts to prove the many unconfirmed assertations in that “lost notebook” led to his work in physics and, eventually, an honorary doctorate in physics from the University of Parma in Italy. More recently, his work provided part of the basis as other collaborators outlined a generalization of the Gollnitz Theorem—a problem that had nagged mathematicians for 30 years. Other collaborations have allowed him to lead in the development of software packages designed exclusively as research tools for mathematics.

“In the past decade or so, the amount of collaboration I’ve done has increased greatly,” Andrews says. “My career started by following my own research interests and creating a body of work that had intrinsic merit as well as a potential for interacting with other areas. Recently that has lead to interesting work in other fields.”

Andrews has served as head of the Department of Mathematics at Penn State on two different occasions, authored or coauthored five books, published hundreds of articles in peer-reviewed journals, and earned numerous awards and honors. His enthusiasm for mathematics never wanes.

“It’s something like exploring a mountain range,” he says. “As you become more familiar with it, you appreciate each new peak even more. Then you hope to describe what you find and present it so others can appreciate its meaning and value, too.”

-- Steve Sampsell

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