Jean-Marie De Koninck

Jean-Marie De Koninck (1949 -) is a Quebec mathematician. He has served as a professor at Université Laval since 1972.

Biography

De Koninck's father is the philosopher and theologian Charles De Koninck. His brothers are Rodolphe De Koninck, a geographer, and Thomas De Koninck, a philosopher.

Mathematical work

De Koninck is an analytic number theorist. He has worked on the distribution of prime numbers, factorization methods, the asymptotic behavior of arithmetic functions, and the Riemann zeta function. He is the author of more than 50 peer-reviewed research papers.

De Koninck is the creator of a 29-episode Canadian television series, "C'est mathématique!" ("It's mathematical!"), that popularizes mathematics for a general audience. He is also responsible for the popular event "ShowMath" at the Université Laval.

Social and sports work

De Koninck founded Opération Nez rouge (Operation Red Nose) in Quebec in 1984, and still serves as its chair. This is an escort service during the Christmas season for inebriated and fatigued people. A driver from the service will drive the client's own car. The service has been extended to English-speaking Canada and to other French-speaking countries.

De Koninck was a former competitive swimmer and triathlete. He is one of the founders of the Laval swim team, and served as president and trainer. In 1978-1979, he was recognized as "Men's swim trainer of the year" by Canadian Inter-University Sport. He was also a sports analyst for Radio-Canada for 7 summer Olympics.

Honors

* 1994 - Member the order of Canada
* 1999 - Knight of the national Order of Quebec
* 2004 - Awarded the Adrien Pouliot Award by the Canadian Mathematical Society for his "continuing and significant contributions to mathematics education in Canada"
* 2006 - Recognized as Scientist of the year by Radio-Canada for "his exemplary role in the promotion and development of mathematics in Canada"

Bibliography

* "Topics in Arithmetical Functions", North Holland, no 43, 262 p., 1980 (avec A. Ivic).
* "Approche élémentaire de l'étude des fonctions arithmétiques", Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 309 p., 1982 (with Armel Mercier).
* "Introduction à la théorie des nombres", 2nd edition, Modulo, 254 p., 1997 (with Armel Mercier).
* "1001 problèmes en théorie classique des nombres", Éditions Ellipses, Paris, 400 p., 2004 (with A. Mercier).
* "Introduction aux Mathématiques de l'ingénieur", Éditions Loze, Montréal, 409 p., 2004 (with Armel Mercier and Norbert Lacroix).