Ranjan Roy

Ranjan Roy (1948 – 2020) was an Indian-born American mathematician. He spent most of his career as a professor at Beloit College.

Education

Roy received a BS degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, an MS in mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, and a PhD at Stony Brook University.

Career

After receiving his PhD, Roy taught at the University of Kentucky for a short time, then returned to India where he took posts at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and Himachal Pradesh University, and received a fellowship at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study. After spending two years at the institute, he joined the Mathematics Institute at Punjab University as a Reader. He returned to the U.S. at SUNY Plattsburgh.

In 1982, Roy joined Beloit College, spending the rest of his career there. He became the Ralph C. Huffer Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy, and at the time of his death, he was the chair of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department.

Publications

Roy published many papers on differential equations, fluid mechanics, special functions, Fuchsian groups, and the history of mathematics. He authored three advanced mathematics books: Sources in the Development of Mathematics (2011), Elliptic and Modular Functions from Gauss to Dedekind to Hecke (2017) and the posthumously published Series and Products in the Development of Mathematics (2021) all published by Cambridge University Press. He is a coauthor of the book Special Functions (with G. E. Andrews and R. Askey), published by Cambridge University Press in 1999.

Awards

Roy earned several recognitions for distinguished mathematics teaching, including the following: The MAA Carl B. Allendoerfer Award The MAA Wisconsin Section teaching award Teacher of the Year honors from Beloit College in 1986 & 2000.