In loving memory of Vale Emeritus Prof Alan G R McIntosh FAA

Publication date
Friday, 12 Aug 2016
Body
Alan-McIntosh.jpg

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Professor Alan McIntosh on Monday, 8th August 2016. Alan was a much loved, long standing member of the MSI community and will be greatly missed by us all.

After completing a BSc Hons., with the award of a University Medal, at the University of New England in 1962, Alan was a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley from 1963 to 1966, completing his PhD in operator theory, under the supervision of Frantisek Wolf. During his studies at Berkeley he was greatly influenced by Tosio Kato and that association played a prominent part in his subsequent research career. After a postdoctoral year at The Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton he returned to Australia in 1967 to take up a position in the School of Mathematics and Physics at the newly established Macquarie University. In 1999 he moved to the Australian National University as a Professor in the Centre for Mathematics and its Applications in the School of Mathematical Sciences, (now called the Mathematical Sciences Institute), from which he retired in 2014.
 
Alan is particularly famous for his role in the resolutions of the Calderon conjecture on singular integrals and the Kato square root problem both of which have had a massive impact in harmonic analysis and partial differential equations. He will also be well remembered though for his abundant and natural friendliness with students and colleagues of all levels and the care and inspiration given to his graduate students and postdocs. His research achievements have also been recognised through election to the Australian Academy of Science  in  1986, the award of Moyal Medal by Macquarie University in 2002 and the Hannan Medal by the Australian Academy of Science in 2015.
 
Alan is survived by his wife Evelina and children Debbie, Adrian, Keith and Jennifer.

Alan's funeral will be held on Wednesday, 17th August at 1:30pm at the Norwood Park Crematorium in Canberra. His wake will follow immediately after the funeral at the same venue. Please RSVP to Keith McIntosh for catering purposes.

In lieu of flowers, Alan's family have asked that a donation in Alan’s memory be made to the Fred Hollows Foundation at the Chapel or on the Fred Hollows website (with reference: For Alan McIntosh, ref. no. 4417535).