Paul Sally

Paul Joseph Sally Jr. (January 29, 1933 – December 30, 2013) was a professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago, where he was the director of undergraduate studies for 30 years. His research areas were p-adic analysis and representation theory.

Life and education Sally was born in the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts on January 29, 1933. he entered the first class of mathematics graduate students at Brandeis in 1957, Stephen is a partner at White & Case (previously Ropes & Gray), and Paul, the youngest, is Superintendent at New Trier High School.

Sally was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1948. The condition resulted in his use of an eye patch and two prosthetic legs, which caused him to be widely referred to as "Professor Pirate," and "The Math Pirate" around the University of Chicago campus. He was known to detest cell phones in class and destroyed several over the years by inviting students to stomp on them or by throwing them out of a window.

While at the IAS he collaborated with Joseph Shalika. In 1983, he became the first director of the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, which is responsible for the Everyday Mathematics program (also called "Chicago math").

Death

Sally died December 30, 2013, aged 80, from congestive heart failure, at the University of Chicago Hospital, and was buried at Maryhill Catholic Cemetery in Niles, Illinois.

Awards Amoco Foundation Award for Long-Term Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, 1995 American Mathematical Society Distinguished Service Award, 2000 Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, 2012.

Selected publications