The History of AGTA
The no-profit association was funded by Francesco de Giovanni (7 October 1955 - 3 February 2024), Full Professor of Algebra at the Department of Mathematics and Applications ‘‘Renato Caccippoli’’ of the University of the Study of Naples ‘‘Federico II’’. Francesco was a member of the Scientific Committee of the Italian Mathematical Union (1997–2015), President of the association Mathesis (2021–2024), one of the oldest mathematical teaching societies in Italy, and ordinary member of “Società Nazionale di Scienze Lettere ed Arti per la Classe di Scienze Fisiche e Matematiche”. For his scientific merits (among many other things, he has published more than 280 papers, not counting the books), he was awarded honoris causa the title of “Dr. of Sciences” by the National University of Ireland (Galway) in 2006. Also, he was plenary speaker at the XVI Congress of Italian Mathematical Union.
He was Editor-in-chief of the scientific journals “Ricerche di Matematica” and “Periodico di Matematiche”, and has also been a member of the editorial boards of “Mediterranean Journal of Mathematics”, “Note di Matematica”, “Mathematics”, “Rendiconti dell’Accademia di Scienze Fisiche e Matematiche della Societ`a Nazionale di Scienze Lettere ed Arti”, “Bollettino dell’Unione Matematica Italiana”, and “Journal of Group Theory”. We should remark that he was personally involved in the foundation of “Journal of Group Theory”, and in fact, he would always recall a journey he did at the time to ask Otto H. Kegel (the oldest of Baer’s students) to support the start of a new journal specific to group theory.
He has always considered the creation of an active and vibrant research group one of his greatest achievements. According to the Group Theory Genealogy Project, he has 27 students and 32 descendants who worked in group theory, and the number of descendants is bound to increase rapidly since some of his students are now themselves researchers and professors.
He organized many international conferences, among which we wish to recall “Infinite Groups 1994” held in Ravello, Italy (May, 1994) and the biennial series of conferences “Advances in Group Theory and Applications”. A key role in organizing the form of these conferences was played by Martin L. Newell and Francesco Catino, who has been a co-organizer of all the editions. Anyway, buoyed by the success of these conferences, Francesco thought of a more ambitious project. In 2015, he founded the nonprofit association “AGTA— Advances in Group Theory and Applications” with the idea of promoting and disseminate scientific culture in group theory and its applications, especially among young researchers. It soon became a reference point for many people due to the amount of news, photos, videos, and tools it freely provided.
He died from a sudden heart attack on February 3rd, 2024. In his memory, the family of Francesco is now awarding an annual prize (1000€) to the best Master of Science thesis in Algebra in Italy (see here).
More information on the life of Francesco can be found for example in the Obituary.
He was Editor-in-chief of the scientific journals “Ricerche di Matematica” and “Periodico di Matematiche”, and has also been a member of the editorial boards of “Mediterranean Journal of Mathematics”, “Note di Matematica”, “Mathematics”, “Rendiconti dell’Accademia di Scienze Fisiche e Matematiche della Societ`a Nazionale di Scienze Lettere ed Arti”, “Bollettino dell’Unione Matematica Italiana”, and “Journal of Group Theory”. We should remark that he was personally involved in the foundation of “Journal of Group Theory”, and in fact, he would always recall a journey he did at the time to ask Otto H. Kegel (the oldest of Baer’s students) to support the start of a new journal specific to group theory.
He has always considered the creation of an active and vibrant research group one of his greatest achievements. According to the Group Theory Genealogy Project, he has 27 students and 32 descendants who worked in group theory, and the number of descendants is bound to increase rapidly since some of his students are now themselves researchers and professors.
He organized many international conferences, among which we wish to recall “Infinite Groups 1994” held in Ravello, Italy (May, 1994) and the biennial series of conferences “Advances in Group Theory and Applications”. A key role in organizing the form of these conferences was played by Martin L. Newell and Francesco Catino, who has been a co-organizer of all the editions. Anyway, buoyed by the success of these conferences, Francesco thought of a more ambitious project. In 2015, he founded the nonprofit association “AGTA— Advances in Group Theory and Applications” with the idea of promoting and disseminate scientific culture in group theory and its applications, especially among young researchers. It soon became a reference point for many people due to the amount of news, photos, videos, and tools it freely provided.
He died from a sudden heart attack on February 3rd, 2024. In his memory, the family of Francesco is now awarding an annual prize (1000€) to the best Master of Science thesis in Algebra in Italy (see here).
More information on the life of Francesco can be found for example in the Obituary.