SUBJECT:

Passing of Professor Emeritus Hubert Halkin

It is with sadness that we confirm the passing of Professor Emeritus
Hubert Halkin, a distinguished member of the UC San Diego Department of
Mathematics from 1965 to his retirement in 1996. Halkin died Sunday, May
26, at the age of 82.

Halkin was born June 5, 1936, in Liege, Belgium, to a family whose
father, an academician, risked his position and his life to shelter
Jewish families during the German occupation of World War II. Hubert
Halkin studied engineering at the University of Liege, and he applied
his studies to work on a hydrology project for the State of Israel. He
then went to Stanford University to study mathematics with Menahem
Schiffer and received a Ph.D. there in 1963. After graduating from
Stanford he worked for Bell Laboratories, joining the UC San Diego
faculty in 1965 as an associate professor. He then served as vice chair
of the department from 1977 to 1981 and as department chair between 1981
and 1987.

Halkin's research was primarily in the field of mathematical control
theory. This subject deals with the control of continuously operating
dynamical systems in engineered processes with the objective of
controlling them through feedback in an efficient manner. One of his
major contributions was a 1968 paper (with E. C. Hendricks) in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in which conditions are
obtained for the existence of optimal control models for linear systems.

Halkin received a Guggenheim fellowship to become a visiting Professor
at the University of Louvain, Belgium, during 1971-1972 and at the
University of Montreal in 1972-1973. He served on the editorial board of
four mathematical journals. He became an emeritus professor in 1996 and
began to split his time between La Jolla and Idyllwild, California. In
Idyllwild, he established a gallery and restaurant which became an
important cultural center for the community.

Halkin was a lover of adventure and the outdoors. He was an accomplished
rock climber and cross county skier. He enjoyed snow camping, mountain
biking, hang gliding and sailing. He was also a generous and caring
person. He donated equipment for a multimedia lecture room at UC San
Diego; the Halkin Seminar Room was so named in recognition of that gift.
He helped students and friends whenever he could. At one time he gave
his VW camper to a rock climber in support of a lifestyle that he
admired.
Halkin is survived by his wife, Kathleen Halkin, of Idyllwild, CA; his
son, Christopher Halkin of Ohio; daughter, Sherrill Anne Halkin, of San
Diego, and two grandchildren, Nydia Camille Grubbs and Judson Hayden
Grubbs.

Donations can be made in Hubert Halkin's memory. Please make checks
payable to the UC San Diego Foundation for Fund R-57104-Z0GM. Please
mail checks to UC San Diego Gift Processing, 9500 Gilman Drive, #0940,
La Jolla, CA 92093-0940. Donations can also be made online at Give to UC
San Diego.

Steven Boggs Dean, Division of Physical Sciences Lei Ni Professor and Chair, Department of Mathematics