Reinhard Boerger

Reinhard Boerger

[tholen]

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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Re: Reinhard Boerger

[Ross Street]

On 8 Jun 2014, at 6:05 am, tholen@mathstat.yorku.ca wrote:

> 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.

That is exactly how I remember Reinhard on my couple of visits to the FernUniversitaet.
He would understand a subject on a first hearing and make valuable comments from
a completely fresh viewpoint.

This is very sad news.

Ross


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Re: Reinhard Boerger

[Fred E.J. Linton]

What sad news indeed:

> ... 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.

I, too, will miss him, as will all who ever came into mathematical 
contact with him, but I cannot even begin to fathom how heart-rendingly 
inconceivable his loss must be to his poor family: Andrea, Lukas, Simon, 
and Jonas. They have all my warmest wishes and deepest sympathies 
for these dark days and for the years to come.

-- Fred Linton



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