2025 Zu Chongzhi Center Pi Day Talk

Date and Time (China standard time): Friday, March 14, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Location: IB 1010

Zoom: 955 8282 6276, Passcode: dkumath

Title: Problems in Analysis That Have Intrigued Me

Speaker: Roderick S. C. Wong

Abstract: This lecture gives an introduction to Asymptotic Analysis. In the mean time, some specific examples are presented to illustrate why this topic has attracted my attention for nearly 60 years.

Bio: Prof. Roderick S. C. Wong is a distinguished mathematician, born in Shanghai and educated in the U.S.A. and Canada, with a BA from San Diego State College (1965) and a PhD from the University of Alberta (1969). His early career was spent at the University of Manitoba, progressing from Assistant to Full Professor and eventually becoming Head of the Department of Applied Mathematics.

In 1994, Prof. Wong moved to the City University of Hong Kong, founding the Department of Mathematics and the Liu Bie Ju Centre for Mathematical Sciences, which he directed until 2019. He held numerous leadership roles at the City University, including Dean of Science and Engineering and Vice-President for Development & External Relations, retiring in 2019 as Emeritus Professor.

Nationally and internationally recognized, Prof. Wong served as President of both the Canadian Applied Mathematics Society and the Hong Kong Mathematical Society. His editorial contributions to multiple academic journals, and his receipt of prestigious honors such as the the Killam Research Fellowship (1982-1984), given by the Canada Council, and the Rh Award for Outstanding Contributions to Scholarship and Research (1984) from the University of Manitoba. Prof Wong is holding the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada, an honour he obtained in 1993 through election. In 2001, he was elected to the Academy of Sciences of Turin (Italy) as a foreign member. In 2004, he was awarded the Chevalier dans l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur by the French government. In 2007, he was elected as a member of the European Academy of Sciences, and in 2008, he was awarded Doctorate Honoris Causa by Ovidius University, Constantza, Romania. He was elected as one of the Founding Fellows of the Hong Kong Institution of Science in 2009.