{{Short description|Canadian mathematician}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Israel Halperin | image = <!--(filename only)--> | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1911|01|05}} | birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | death_date = {{death date and age|2007|03|08|1911|01|05}} | death_place = | residence = | fields = | workplaces = Queen's University at Kingston<br/>University of Toronto | alma_mater = University of Toronto<br/>Princeton University (PhD) | doctoral_advisor = Salomon Bochner and John von Neumann | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = George Elliott | notable_students = | known_for = Acquittal in the 1946 Gouzenko Affair<br/>Namesake of the Israel Halperin Prize | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | influences = | influenced = | awards = Henry Marshall Tory Medal {{small|(1967)}}<br />Jeffery–Williams Prize {{small|(1979)}} | signature = <!--(filename only)--> | footnotes =
| module = {{Infobox military person | embed = yes | width_style = person | allegiance = {{flag|Canada}} | branch_label = Branch | branch = Canadian Army | unit = Royal Canadian Artillery | service_years_label = Years | service_years = 1942-1945 | rank = Major | battles_label = Conflicts | battles = {{tree list}} * World War II {{tree list/end}} }}
}} '''Israel Halperin''' {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|FRSC}} (January 5, 1911 – March 8, 2007) was a Canadian mathematician and social activist.
==Early life and education== Israel Halperin was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants Solomon Halperin and Fanny Lundy. Halperin attended Malvern Collegiate Institute,<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel Halperin, Scholar and Activist, 1911-2007 |work=The Globe and Mail |first=Sandra |last=Martin |date=April 7, 2007}}</ref> Victoria University in the University of Toronto, graduated from the University of Toronto in 1932, and later was a graduate student of John von Neumann at Princeton University, where he received his doctorate in mathematics.
==Early career== After completing his doctorate in mathematics at Princeton, Halperin took a faculty position at Queen's University beginning in 1939. Halperin enlisted with the Canadian Army in 1942, serving until 1945 in Ottawa. Under the Royal Canadian Artillery, Halperin assisted with the Canadian Armament Research and Development Establishment (CARDE).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/israel-halperin |title=Israel Halperin |last=John |first=Boyko |date=October 24, 2022 |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher= |access-date=January 8, 2024 |quote=}}</ref> He then returned to Queen's.<ref>Beck (February 2008), p. 16.</ref>
==Arrest and release== In February 1946, Halperin was arrested and accused of espionage in Canada, in connection with the defection of Igor Gouzenko, a Soviet cipher clerk, which occurred in Ottawa in September 1945.<ref>Beck (February 2008), p. 14-15.</ref> Gouzenko's defection and subsequent investigation showed that the Soviet Union was carrying on large-scale spying in Canada and the United States, including nuclear weapons espionage.
After some arduous questioning and confinement lasting several weeks, under a Royal Commission appointed by Justice Minister Louis St-Laurent, followed by a trial in early 1947, Halperin was eventually cleared and freed. He resumed teaching at Queen's, but not until 1948, following more legal hurdles which were raised by Queen's University leadership. Queen's Principal Robert Charles Wallace advocated his return.<ref>Beck (February 2008), pp. 14-20, 52.</ref>
==Later career== Following von Neumann's death in 1957, Halperin completed two of his unfinished papers, leaving them under von Neumann's name alone.<ref>Beck (February 2008), p. 16.</ref>
Halperin taught at Queen's until 1966, earning tenure as a full professor. He then moved to the University of Toronto until his retirement in 1976, by which time he had authored more than 100 academic papers.
In 1980, the Israel Halperin Prize was set up by the Canadian Annual Symposium on Operator Theory and Operator Algebras to be awarded to a member of the Canadian mathematical community who has recently obtained a doctorate and has made contributions to operator theory or operator algebras, in honor of Halperin.
Halperin was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws from Queen's in 1989, and was made a Member of the Order of Canada, both for his humanitarian work.<ref>Beck (February 2008) pp. 20, 52.</ref>
==Honours== Halperin was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1953, and won the Henry Marshall Tory Medal in 1967.<ref>Beck (February 2008), p. 52.</ref>
==Personal life== Halperin was the father of four children, all of whom went on to become professors: William Halperin,<ref>{{cite web|title=William Halperin|website=Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University|url=http://www.physics.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/core-faculty/william-halperin.html}}</ref> Connie Eaves, Stephen Halperin, and Mary Hannah.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.womensresearch.ca/people/faculty/hannah.php |title= StackPath|website=www.womensresearch.ca |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070505105755/http://www.womensresearch.ca/people/faculty/hannah.php |archive-date=May 5, 2007}}</ref>
Halperin died in 2007 at age 96.
==Notes== {{reflist|30em}}
==References== *{{cite journal |journal=Queen's Alumni Review |title=A Question of Treason |url=https://archive.org/details/queensreview82/page/n15/ |first=Sara |last=Beck |date=February 2008 |pages=14–20, 52 |access-date=January 8, 2024}}
==Further reading== *{{cite web |first=Dominique |last=Clément |url=http://www.historyofrights.com/bios/halperin.html |title=Israel Halperin |work=Canada's Human Rights History |access-date=2014-11-02 |archive-date=2014-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102213454/http://www.historyofrights.com/bios/halperin.html |url-status=dead }}
==External links== *{{MathGenealogy|id=8099}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halperin, Israel}} Category:1911 births Category:2007 deaths Category:People from Westmount, Quebec Category:Princeton University alumni Category:University of Toronto alumni Category:Scientists from Quebec Category:Scientists from Toronto Category:Activists from Quebec Category:Activists from Toronto Category:Canadian activists Category:Canadian mathematicians Category:Canadian Army personnel of World War II Category:Academic staff of Queen's University at Kingston Category:Academic staff of the University of Toronto Faculty of Arts and Science Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Category:Members of the Order of Canada Category:Mathematicians of the University of Toronto