Reinhard Boerger

[tholen@mathstat.yorku.ca]

Dear "categories" readers,

I received the sad news that Reinhard Boerger passed away on June 6, at
the age of only 59, after continuing heart complications. He leaves
behind his wife Andrea and their three sons, Lukas, Simon and Jonas.

Reinhard taught for over three decades at FernUniversitaet (Hagen,
Germany) where he had received his Ph.D in 1981, with a thesis on
notions of connectedness written under the direction of Dieter ("Nico")
Pumpluen. He continued to work on mathematical problems until just
hours before his death.

Reinhard was an extraordinarily talented mathematician, with a brought
and deep understanding of many areas of mathematics. His quick grasp of
any kind of subject impressed many of his colleagues, especially his
pointed questions and comments in seminar settings.

My acquaintance with Reinhard dates back to the mid seventies when we
both were still at the University of Muenster. Our conversations were
always inspiring and lay the foundations to six joint papers that
appeared between 1976 and 1990. I am proudest of our short note on
"Cantors Diagonalprinzip fuer Kategorien" (Math. Zeitschrift 160 (1978)
135-138) as it gives a very good glimpse into Reinhards non-standard
way of mathematical thinking.

Many of you will miss him as a mathematical colleague as much as his
colleagues in Hagen and I do.

Walter Tholen








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