Re: Phil Scott

[Martin Escardo <escardo.martin@gmail.com>]

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I met Phil only twice in person, once at the IHS in Paris in 2014 and once shortly after that when he visited our institution. Both meetings with him were rather enjoyable and profitable.


In the latter, we discussed Higgs involution theorem, among other things (I don't remember why), which we discussed again a few months ago by private email after I asked a question here.


I came across his book, with Lambek, "Introduction to higher-order categorical logic", when I was an MSc student in Brazil in 1990.


I made a pirate photocopy of that book at that time (I can confess this because the statute of limitations has passed).  When he visited Birmingham a few years ago, I asked him to sign it for me, which he did gladly.


I am shocked and sad to learn he passed away. I didn't know he was ill when we interacted by email less than two months ago. He didn't mention that.


He will be missed by many.


Martin


On 20/12/2023 19:49, Joyal, André wrote:
Dear all,

To Rick Blute, Robin Cockett and Simon Henry

I am very sad to learn that Phil has left us for another world.
I knew him from the time he was studying with Jim Lambek, about 50 years ago.
I have a good memory of the lively discussions we had in a café in the
Mile-End near McGill. He was always eager to discuss new ideas and
he had an apparent limitless thirst for mathematics.
His book with Lambek, "Introduction Higher Categorical Logic" is a landmark.
He created the school of category theory in Ottawa.

I owe him a personal debt: a few years ago, he took the initiative of presenting
my case to the Jeffery-Willams prize of the CMS, which I won in 2022!
Thank you Phil!

I wish there is a paradise for mathematicians, so they can continue their research.
Phil was a good angel and we need help.

André Joyal
________________________________
De : Jason Parker <jasonparker300@gmail.com><mailto:jasonparker300@gmail.com>
Envoyé : 20 décembre 2023 12:17
À : Richard Blute <rblute@uottawa.ca><mailto:rblute@uottawa.ca>
Cc : Categories mailing list <categories@mq.edu.au><mailto:categories@mq.edu.au>
Objet : Re: Phil Scott

Dear all,

I am very saddened to hear of Phil's passing. Phil was one of my PhD advisors at the University of Ottawa from 2015-2020 (along with Pieter Hofstra, who also sadly passed away in 2022). He was an extremely kind and supportive mentor in mathematics and in life. I also knew him to be a very caring and conscientious teacher, from when I served as a teaching assistant for his discrete mathematics course (on more than one occasion), and from when I took a graduate course with him on categorical logic.

I last saw him in person when I had a post-PhD-defense celebratory dinner at the Green Door restaurant in Ottawa (one of his favourites!), and in recent years I had seen him at various online seminars and conferences. I last spoke to him over e-mail in October, not knowing that that would be the last time we would speak.

May he rest in peace.

-Jason Parker

On Tue, Dec 19, 2023 at 6:36 AM Richard Blute <rblute@uottawa.ca<mailto:rblute@uottawa.ca>> wrote:





It is with great sadness that we convey the news to the category theory community that our good friend and colleague Phil Scott passed away this morning (18th December, 2023) after a long battle with cancer.



Phil’s many contributions to category theory are well known. Phil and Jim Lambek essentially invented the field of categorical proof theory with a series of papers that culminated in the book “Introduction To Higher-Order Categorical Logic”, which is still the standard text on the subject. Phil’s research went well beyond these initial works: he made major contributions to theoretical computer science, linear logic, inverse semigroup theory and recursion theory.



Those of us who knew him personally will always think of him as a mentor, a friend and a genuinely kind soul.



Rick Blute

Robin Cockett

Simon Henry





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