Mehdi Behzad

Mehdi Behzad
Born Iran
Fields Mathematics, Graph Theory
Thesis  (1965)

Mehdi Behzad (Persian:مهدی بهزاد; born April 22, 1936) is a mathematician of Iranian origin specializing in graph theory. He introduced his total coloring theory (also known as "Behzad's conjecture" or "the total chromatic number conjecture"), which is regarded as one of the most beautiful conjectures in graph theory,[1] during his Ph.D. studies in 1965.[2] Despite active work on this problem during the last 50 years, including publication of several books and dissertations as well as hundreds of papers,[3] this conjecture remains as challenging as it is open. In fact, Behzad's conjecture now belongs to mathematics’ classic open problems.[4]

Behzad has been instrumental in institutionalizing mathematics education and popularization of mathematics in Iran, and has received numerous awards and recognition for his lifetime service to the Iranian scientific community.

Graph theory

Behzad is the coauthor of two text books on graph theory published in 1972 and 1979 in the U.S.,[5][6] which were among the key references on this new field of mathematics. He has been one of the direct collaborators of Paul Erdős.[7][8][9][10][11]

Professorship

Behzad was the first faculty member of Sharif University of Technology (Persian:دانشگاه صنعتی شریف), formerly Arya-Mehr University of Technology (Persian: دانشگاه صنعتی آریامهر), who was promoted to full professor in this institution. He was a Senior Fulbright Scholar at Michigan State University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the academic year 1974–75, where his research was supported by U.S. National Academy of Sciences. He has taught courses in several universities in the United States and Iran. Although in 1981, he decided to retire as a university professor at the age of 45, he has continued to serve the Iranian scientific community in different capacities.

Institutionalizing of basic sciences

Behzad featured on postage stamps by Iran Post Company, 2004

Behzad has significantly contributed to institutionalizing and advancement of basic sciences in his home country of Iran. In recognition of his executive contributions in the last 50 years, the Iranian Mathematical Society (Persian: انجمن‌ رياضى‌ ‌اير‌ان‌) has established the Dr. Mehdi Behzad’s Award (Persian: جایزه‌ی دکتر مهدی بهزاد), an annual multinational award for individuals with outstanding leadership role in advancement of mathematics in their respective countries.

Behzad's contributions to institutionalizing of basic sciences in Iran include:

Popularization of mathematics

Some of Behzad's contributions to popularization of mathematics in Iranian scientific community include:

Awards and recognitions

Behzad has been interviewed repeatedly by the national TV, radio, and newspapers. He has received numerous awards and recognition for his contributions such as:

Books

References

  1. Adrian Bondy, Beautiful Conjectures in Graph Theory, European Journal of Combinatorics, Volume 37, April 2014, Pages 4–23.
  2. M. Behzad, Graphs and Their Chromatic Numbers, Michigan State University, Department of Mathematics, 1965, 124 pages.
  3. H. P. Yap, Total Colouring of Graphs, Springer, 2009, 131 pages.
  4. Alexander Soifer, The Mathematical Coloring Book, Springer, 2009, 607 pages.
  5. M. Behzad and G. Chartrand, Introduction to the Theory of Graphs, Allyn and Bacon, 1971, 271 pages.
  6. M. Behzad, G. Chartrand, and L. Lesniak, Graphs & Digraphs, Wadsworth, Inc., 1979, 406 pages
  7. Y. Alavi, M. Behzad, Paul Erdös, D. R. Lick, Double vertex graphs, J. Comb. Inf. Syst. Sci. 16, No.1, 37-50, 1991.
  8. A. Behzad, M. Behzad, and C. E. Praeger, On the Domination Number of the Generalized Petersen Graphs, in journal of Discrete Mathematics, 308, 603-610, 2008.
  9. Arash Behzad, Mehdi Behzad and Cheryl Praeger, Basic Dominations in Graphs, in Bulletin of the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications (ICA), Volume 61, pp. 6-16, 2011
  10. Mehdi Behzad, A characterization of total graphs, in Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 26, 383-389, 1970
  11. Mehdi Behzad and Heydar Radjavi, Another analog of Ramsey numbers, Math. Ann. 186, 228-232, 1970
  12. Official Website of Iranian Mathematical Society
  13. Official Website of Academy of Sciences of Islamic Republic of Iran
  14. G. B. Thomas and R. L. Finney, Calculus and Analytic Geometry, 7th Edition, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., 1264 pages, 1995
  15. L. Leithold, The Calculus with Analytic Geometry, 4th Edition,, Harpercollins College Div, 1216 pages, 1981
  16. M. Behzad and N. Samini, The Legend of the King and the Mathematician, Candle and Fog Publishing, 2013
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