It is with great sadness that the London Mathematical Society (LMS) has learned of the death of Professor Elmer Rees. Professor Rees was elected to LMS membership on 18 April 1974. Over the years he served the Society in several capacities notably as Vice President (1994-1996) and as a member of LMS Council. Professor Rees was also the LMS-NZMS Forder Lecturer in 1995.
Professor Rees was born in Wales and undertook his undergraduate studies at the University of Cambridge before moving to the University of Warwick for his postgraduate studies. In his long career he held academic positions at a number of institutions including the University of Hull, the Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton, Swansea University and St Catherine's College, Oxford before becoming a professor at the University of Edinburgh in 1979, where he remained until 2005. From 2005-2009 he was the Founding Director of the Heilbronn Institute of Mathematical Research, after which he held an Honorary Visiting Professorship at the University of Bristol. In 2009 he was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
A longer obituary will be published in a future issue of the LMS Newsletter.