Gerard Murphy: Gerard John Murphy, who has died aged 57, was a mathematician of quiet distinction who rose to the top of his profession. He was elected to membership of the Royal Irish Academy in 1992 and promoted to the rank of associate professor of mathematics at UCC in 1995.
He was born in Drimnagh, Dublin, the eldest in a family of eight whose father was a window cleaner. He left school aged 14 and, for the next seven years, worked at a variety of menial jobs, all the while educating himself, with single-minded purpose and determination, traits which he was to display throughout his life.
To further his ambition to acquire a university education, he studied A-level mathematics on his own and went to London for the first time to sit the examinations. On the basis of his results at these, as a special case, he was admitted in 1970 to Trinity College Dublin, where he read pure mathematics.
He had a brilliant undergraduate career: two years after entering TCD, he was awarded a foundation scholarship; in 1974, he graduated with a first-class honours BA and won a Gold Medal.
His success at TCD marked him out as a special talent and, also in 1974, he was awarded a Gulbenkian scholarship which enabled him to study for a PhD at Cambridge University for the next three years. He was awarded this in 1977 and won the Knight prize for the quality of his research.
He returned to TCD in 1977 to take up a postdoctoral research fellowship and thus began his career as a university lecturer, combining teaching and researching, in which activities he engaged with equal success thenceforth.
Following a three-year stint there, he spent the next four years in North America, two at Dalhousie University and one year at each of the universities of New Hampshire and Oregon, thereby acquiring invaluable professional experience.
He came back to Ireland in 1984 to take up an appointment as a lecturer in the mathematics department in University College Cork. There, he enjoyed excellent relationships with his colleagues and students and developed a special rapport with the four PhD students whom he supervised. He was promoted twice, first in 1992 to statutory lecturer and three years later, in the minimum time period, to associate professor, in recognition of the quality and quantity of his research output and the calibre of his teaching.
Shortly afterwards, he joined the associate professor promotions board at UCC and served on this for four years. Starting in 1999, Gerard served as head of department for five years, during which time he oversaw the development of new management structures and the design and delivery of new degree programmes in mathematics.
He took his teaching responsibility seriously and sought to inculcate the notions of precision and proof handed down by the ancient Greeks. He designed his courses to further the student's understanding and appreciation of mathematics, not only as a tool for understanding other disciplines, but also as one of mankind's greatest scientific and cultural achievements.
His research was in an area of mathematics called functional analysis, which was created during the last century. His research endeavours were especially focused on extending our knowledge of quantum groups and non-commutative geometry, subjects of great intrinsic importance both for mathematics and physics.
He lectured extensively on these topics at universities throughout the world, made fundamental contributions in his area of specialisation and played a pioneering role in opening up new lines of inquiry. He wrote more than 70 original mathematical papers and will be remembered for his book, C*-algebras and Operator Theory, which was published in 1990 to worldwide acclaim. It has become a standard textbook in many countries, is often cited as a reference in research articles and has been translated into Russian.
He was invited to join the EU Operator Algebras Network in the mid-1990s and, through his involvement, attracted substantial funding which enabled him to organise the first of a series of major conferences on Operator Algebras in UCC in 1995, which drew mathematicians from all parts of the world and to fund several postdoctoral research assistants to work under his direction.
His membership of this network allowed him to establish an internationally recognised centre of excellence in UCC in Operator Algebras and non-commutative geometry, a legacy that will endure.
Gerard was proud of his membership of the Royal Irish Academy and, as joint editor-in-chief of its Mathematical Proceedings, he helped to modernise and produce it electronically, to raise its profile as an international journal and expand its readership. This is but one more instance of the selfless manner in which he promoted his subject to the benefit of the mathematical community.
A year ago he was diagnosed with cancer of the colon and liver and he bore his illness with fortitude and dignity. He is survived by his wife, Mary, by one son and three daughters and by his mother and siblings.
Gerard John Murphy: born November 12th, 1948, died October 12th, 2006