The SCM regrets the death of Dr. Josep Vaquer i Timoner, on Monday, March 23, 2020.
Josep Vaquer graduated in Mathematics in 1954, became a professor at the faculty in 1955, earned his doctorate in 1960, and obtained the Chair of Metric Geometry and Differential Geometry at the same University of Barcelona, where he also served as dean.
He also worked at the Mathematical Seminar in Hamburg with Professor Ernest Witt, and at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich on algebra and differential geometry. After these trips, he collaborated with Josep Teixidor in modernizing mathematics education. He was also among the first professors to teach in Catalan.
He was crucial in organizing the Mathematical Olympiads for many years, carrying out various tasks such as creating and finding problems, or serving as the president of the jury. He also maintained contacts with the organizers of the Kangaroo tests, discussing the problem statements.
He served as president of the Catalan Society of Mathematics between 1991 and 1995, as well as an associate member of the IEC from 1978, and a full member from 1989 in the Science and Technology Section, where he was treasurer until 1995.
On the occasion of his retirement, due to his great influence in the mathematical world and his distinctive personality, an interview was conducted with him in the SCM News, which also included the presence of his wife Mercé. You can find it in the News section of July 1999, issue 11, or at Interview in the News with J. Vaquer
Many of us Catalan mathematicians have had the privilege of attending his classes and were captivated by his very personal way of teaching and thinking about mathematics. Without a doubt, we owe him much more than we realize. He was and is an institution within the Faculty of Mathematics at the UB.
Rest in peace