{{Short description|Dutch mathematician (1937–2023)}} '''Lambertus Adrianus "Bert" Peletier''' (29 March 1937 – 16 December 2023) was a Dutch mathematician. He was a professor of [[Mathematical analysis|analysis]] and [[applied mathematics]] at [[Leiden University]] from 1977 until his retirement in 2002.
==Life== Lambertus Adrianus Peletier was born on 9 March 1937 in [[Rijswijk]].<ref name="leiden">{{cite web|url=https://hoogleraren.universiteitleiden.nl/id/1910 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231225100521/https://hoogleraren.universiteitleiden.nl/id/1910 |title=Lambertus Adrianus Peletier (Bert) |language=nl |publisher=Leiden University |date= |archive-date=25 December 2023}}</ref> His grandfather {{ill|Benjamin Broers|nl}} was a socialist Dutch minister in the [[Dutch Reformed Church]], who lived with his family during [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vrijzinniginwassenaar.nl/drie-vragen-aan-bert-peletier |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320095120/https://www.vrijzinniginwassenaar.nl/drie-vragen-aan-bert-peletier |title=Drie vragen aan...Bert Peletier |language=nl |website=vrijzinniginwassenaar.nl |date=20 January 2020 |archive-date=20 March 2023}}</ref> Peletier's father was an engineer working for [[Shell plc]] and took him to his laboratory. He was interested in technique from a young age and desired to pursue a technical study. His maths teacher inspired him to study physics.<ref name="smeets">{{cite journal|last1=Smeets |first1=Ionica |url=https://www.nieuwarchief.nl/serie5/pdf/naw5-2015-16-3-213.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025132717/https://www.nieuwarchief.nl/serie5/pdf/naw5-2015-16-3-213.pdf |title=Het keerpunt van Bert Peletier. De intellectuele bevrediging is anders, maar net zo groot |language=nl |journal=Nieuw Archief voor Wiskunde |issue=3 |date=September 2015 |archive-date=25 October 2021}}</ref>
Peletier thus studied [[theoretical physics]] at [[Delft University of Technology]].<ref name="ridder">{{cite web|url=https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/nieuws/2013/05/bert-peletier-geridderd |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704150939/https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/nieuws/2013/05/bert-peletier-geridderd |title=Bert Peletier geridderd |language=nl |publisher=Leiden University |date=1 May 2013 |archive-date=4 July 2022}}</ref> After graduating, Peletier had the opportunity to study one year at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] and became inspired by academic life.<ref name="smeets"/> In 1967 he obtained his PhD at [[Eindhoven University of Technology]], with a thesis titled: ''"On a class of wave equations"''.<ref name="leiden"/> He subsequently spent time abroad at the [[University of Sussex]] and [[University of Minnesota]] and became more inspired by [[applied mathematics]].<ref name="ridder"/> In 1977 he became professor of [[Mathematical analysis|analysis]] and applied mathematics at [[Leiden University]].<ref name="leiden"/> He retired in 2002.<ref name="ridder"/>
His expertise lay in the field of [[Mathematical analysis|nonlinear analysis]]. During the latter part of his career, in the late 1990s, he applied mathematics for the development of medicine. He especially focused on the latter after his retirement and worked intensively with [[Pharmacology|pharmacologists]].<ref name="ridder"/><ref name="smeets"/> In 1995 he was one of the founders of the Lorentz Center, an institute for the organization of interactive workshops in the sciences.<ref name="ridder"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lorentzcenter.nl/in-memoriam-prof-dr-ir-bert-peletier.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224105304/https://www.lorentzcenter.nl/in-memoriam-prof-dr-ir-bert-peletier.html |title=In memoriam Prof. Dr. Ir. Bert Peletier |publisher= |date= |archive-date=24 December 2023}}</ref>
Peletier was elected a member of the [[Academia Europaea]] in 1989.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Peletier_Lambertus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120164736/https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Peletier_Lambertus |title=Lambertus Peletier |publisher=Academia Europaea |date= |archive-date=20 November 2023}}</ref> He was elected a member of [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.knaw.nl/leden/peletier |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809130649/https://www.knaw.nl/leden/peletier |title=Bert Peletier |language=nl |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |date= |archive-date=9 August 2022}}</ref> Peletier was elected a Fellow of the [[Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.siam.org/prizes-recognition/fellows-program/all-siam-fellows/p |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329135228/https://www.siam.org/prizes-recognition/fellows-program/all-siam-fellows/p |title=SIAM Fellows - P |publisher=Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics |date= |archive-date=29 March 2023}}</ref> In April 2013 Peletier was made a Knight in the [[Order of the Netherlands Lion]].<ref name="ridder"/>
Peletier died in [[Leiden]] on 16 December 2023, at the age of 86.<ref name="leiden"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=30534 Profile] at the [[Mathematics Genealogy Project]]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peletier, Bert}} [[Category:1937 births]] [[Category:2023 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century Dutch mathematicians]] [[Category:21st-century Dutch mathematicians]] [[Category:Academic staff of Leiden University]] [[Category:Applied mathematicians]] [[Category:Delft University of Technology alumni]] [[Category:Eindhoven University of Technology alumni]] [[Category:Fellows of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics]] [[Category:Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion]] [[Category:Mathematical analysts]] [[Category:Members of Academia Europaea]] [[Category:Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]] [[Category:People from Rijswijk]]