Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Erhard Luft fonds
General material designation
- Textual record
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on the contents of the fonds.
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
1.67m textual materials.
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Erhard Luft was born September 28, 1933, in Alt-Walddorf, Slovakia. After WWII, he and his parents moved to Germany, and Erhard entered the German education system. After graduating from Gymnasium cum laude, Luft studied mathematics and physics and gained his Ph.D. from Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg in 1959. After becoming Prof. Hirtzebruck’s assistant in Bonn, Hirtzebruck sent Luft to the US on Fulbright Scholarship. While in the US, Luft taught and researched at Brandeis University and UC Berkeley; at the latter school; he met his future wife, Maria. In 1963 he accepted a position at UBC, where he became a tenured professor for 35 years. He also joined the American Mathematical Society in 1963. According to the Mathematics Genealogy website, he had four Ph.D. students who became professors; K. G. Choo, Wolfgang Holzmann, Douglas Maclean, and Zingru Zhang. Luft was a prolific author and frequently communicated with other mathematicians at other top universities. He loved sports, and in his later years, he took up cross-country skiing. On February 9, 2017, Luft died in Salt Spring Island, BC.
Custodial history
Preceding its arrival at the UBC Archives in 2020, the fonds was kept in a filing cabinet at Luft’s home on Salt Spring Island, BC.
Scope and content
The fonds contains correspondence, drafts of Luft’s books and papers, mathematical proofs and notes of Luft’s concepts, notes on the work of other mathematicians work, work records about Luft’s time at UBC, records created while Luft was a student, and ephemera. It consists of the following series: Correspondence, Scholastic years in Germany, Teaching and Work Records, Mathematics Department, Luft Papers, Proofs and Notes, and Ephemera Series.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Uploaded finding aid
Associated materials
Accruals
General note
Researchers are strongly advised to check with the University Archives regarding permission to publish or otherwise use materials from this fonds.