The Rutgers Mathematics department mourns the passing of Distinguished Visiting Professor Emeritus Haïm Brezis on July 7, 2024 at his home in Jerusalem, Israel. Haïm made his mark on our department through his annual stays dating back to 1987 until his retirement in 2022, often spending most of the academic year here.
Haïm was born in 1944 in Riom-ès-Montagnes, a hamlet in the mountainous Auvergne region of France. His parents were Jewish refugees hiding under precarious conditions in the woods surrounding this hamlet. After WWII they settled in Paris, where Haïm received his entire education in various institutions of the celebrated Latin Quarter. He earned a doctorate in 1971 from the Université de Paris under the supervision of G. Choquet and J-L Lions.
In 1972 he was appointed at the Université Paris VI: associate professor 1972-76, full professor 1976-2007, emeritus since 2008.
In 1987 Haïm accepted an offer from Rutgers University as Distinguished Visiting Professor for several months every year; he held it until 2022, when he became emeritus. He was also a regular visitor at the Technion (2008-2022). His influence on mathematics was enormous: he supervised 58 Ph.D. students: there has rarely been an International Congress of Mathematics in the 21st century that did not feature one of his academic descendents as a plenary speaker.
Haïm was a member of Académie des Sciences, Paris. He was a foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences (USA), and several European national academies (Belgium, Italy, Romania, Spain).
Haïm received honorary degrees from various universities in Belgium, Greece, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, and Spain. He held an Honorary Professorship from the Institute of Mathematics, Academia Sinica, Beijing, from Fudan University, and from Beijing Normal University.
Haïm received numerous honors and awards, including membership in the French Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and its equivalent in four other countries, the European Academy, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, honorary doctorates or professorships from 11 universities in a range of countries, and multiple birthday meetings and volumes in his honor. Last January, the AMS awarded him the Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement.
Haïm was the author of very highly-cited papers and texts, as well as nonmathematical monographs as well. He is survived by his wife, Israeli author and theater director Michal Govrin, and daughters Rachel and Mirika.