Memories of Menahem Schiffer

Abstract

Although Menahem (Max) Schiffer was the person who formally appointed me at Stanford and who was “Executive Head” of the Mathematics Department when I arrived there in 1959, I had little direct professional contact with him during his lifetime. But his mathematical stature, inner dignity, and personal nobility were unmistakable, and I profited in profound ways from them during my tenure at Stanford. The occasional general lectures he gave were major events not to be missed. He saw each topic in active context with the whole of science and had an amazing talent for developing the material in all its ramifications, displaying insights and interconnections with a clarity that left me with a sense of awe and revelation. He did this invariably without use of lecture notes; it simply flowed from within him, providing the listener a clear awareness of the majestic achievements that arise in great science.