The University of Chicago Thursday announced that its Professor Emeritus in mathematics, Walter Lewis Baily Jr., passed away last week at the Brandel Care Center in Northbrook. He was 82.
The university described Baily as a "globetrotting mathematician of University of Chicago." It said that his research extended the range of algebraic geometry.
The administration also held a memorial service Monday in honor of Baily.
Baily is known for his work along with Swiss mathematician Armand Borel. He co-authored a seminal concept that introduced what came to be known as the Baily-Borel Compactification.
"This is, probably, Baily's best-known and his most influential work," said Martin Karel, Professor Emeritus of mathematics, Rutgers University at Camden, according to a university press release.
Baily's and Borel's work is still used to study certain aspects of mathematics.
"They first published the concept in the 'Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society' in 1964, and then followed up with a more detailed treatment in the Annals of Mathematics in 1966. The method is still an important tool for studying certain arithmetic aspects of representation theory and number theory," said UChicago mathematics professor Niels Nygaard.
Baily's son, Walter Toshi Baily, said that his father treated everyone his equal. "He was extremely humble. That's one of the things I really remember and respect about him," Toshi Baily recalled.
"While I was his student, Walter offered his advice and ideas to me gently and was patient with me," Karel said. He received his doctorate in mathematics under Baily's supervision.
"Walter and his wife Yaeko warmly welcomed me and entertained me at their home many times," he added.
Baily was born July 5, 1930, in Waynesburg, Penn. He received his bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1952 and his master's degree and PhD from Princeton University in 1953 and 1955 respectively. He then served a year each at MIT and Princeton as an instructor before moving to Chicago, noted yhe university in a press release.
"Walter's admiration for his PhD adviser, Kunihiko Kodaira, fostered a deep love of Japanese culture and the Japanese language, which he spoke fluently," Nygaard said.
Baily joined the Chicago University faculty staff as an assistant professor in mathematics in 1957, attaining the rank of professor in 1963. During these years, he traveled often to Japan to give guest lectures. His host during many of his early visits was University of Tokyo mathematician Shokichi Iyanaga, one of Japan's leading mathematicians.
On one such trip to Tokyo he met his future wife, Yaeko Iseki.
"Professor Iyanaga acted as the official matchmaker between my mother and father," Toshi Baily said. The Bailys recently celebrated their 50th anniversary, having married in Tokyo on Jan. 7, 1963.
"For many years Walter and Yaeko maintained a residence in Tokyo and they would spend part of every summer in Japan," Nygaard said.
Baily was a member of the American Mathematical Society and of the Mathematical Society of Japan. He was a winner of the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition in 1952. His honors also include receiving an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship in 1958, and giving an invited talk at the 1962 International Congress of Mathematicians in Stockholm, Sweden.
He retired as Professor Emeritus in 2005. "Walter was a revered colleague in the mathematics department. He spent many joyful hours of good conversation with his colleagues at the Quadrangle Club, where he was a lifelong member," Nygaard said.
Baily is survived by his wife, Yaeko Baily, his son Walter Toshi Baily and two grandchildren, Lisa and Emmy Baily.
