Our history

The beginnings of mathematics teaching

The Department of Mathematics brought together staff teaching mathematics to first- and second-year students across the faculties of the Technical University of Iași. Mathematics was taught in technical higher education in Iași before the “Gheorghe Asachi” Polytechnic School was founded. In 1911–1912, the earlier School of Electricity offered Pure and Applied Mechanics, taught by Dimitrie Pompeiu, and Analytical Geometry, taught by Constantin Popovici. Technical higher education subsequently developed within the Faculty of Sciences of “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University until 1937.

The Polytechnic School was established on 3 December 1937 and began operating on 1 October 1938. In its first academic year, 1938–1939, Ilie Popa was among the first teachers of Applied Mathematics. Dumitru Ion Mangeron joined in February 1940 as a lecturer in General Mathematics, as did Ion Creangă as an assistant in Applied Mathematics with Mechanics. They and other members of the Iași school of mathematics helped establish the later department.

The establishment and organization of the department

The Polytechnic School’s Department of Mathematics was created after the education reform of August 1948. Between 1948 and 1952, mathematics groups served the four faculties of Mechanics, Industrial Chemistry, Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering. Octav Mayer, Adolf Haimovici and Tudora Luchian, primarily based at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University, also taught at the Polytechnic School. Other members included Gheorghe Ciobanu, Alexandru Climescu, Ștefania Ruscior and Arsenie Oprea. The faculty departments were led by Nicolae Iosipescu, assisted by Gheorghe Ciobanu in Civil Engineering; Adolf Haimovici in Chemistry; and Octav Mayer in Mathematics and Dumitru Mangeron in Mechanics, both within the Faculty of Mechanics.

In 1952, one Department of Mathematics was established for the entire Iași Polytechnic Institute. Gheorghe Gheorghiev headed it in 1952–1953, followed by Alexandru Climescu until 1961, when it was divided into Mathematics I and Mathematics II. From 1961 to 1975, the two departments initially belonged administratively to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and were headed by Climescu and Mangeron respectively. Later they were attached to the Civil Engineering and Hydrotechnics faculties, including in 1971–1972.

From reunification to the early twenty-first century

Arsenie Oprea became head of Mathematics II in 1972–1973 and continued as head of the reunited department in 1975, then part of the Faculty of Hydrotechnics. In 1981–1982, the department reached a peak of 79 posts, with 71 staff members. Ion Enescu led it from 1982–1983 until his death on 31 March 1989. Aurel Bejancu served as acting head until December 1989, when Adrian Corduneanu was elected. Corduneanu served four terms, until May 2006.

The department moved from the Faculty of Mechanics to Electrical Engineering during 1990–1993. From 1993–1994 it belonged to the Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications. Constantin I. Popovici headed the department from 2006 to 2012.

Courses and curricula

The curricula of the Polytechnic Institute, and later of the Technical University, changed repeatedly. First-year courses included Linear Algebra, Analytical and Differential Geometry, and Mathematical Analysis. In the second year, students studied Special Mathematics, Numerical Methods, and Probability and Mathematical Statistics. Mathematics teaching hours gradually decreased after 1990. Special Mathematics was removed from 2005–2006, while specialist departments took over Numerical Methods in most cases; some faculties merged courses or reduced weekly hours.

Professors and research

The department’s history names Octav Mayer, Ilie Popa, Dimitrie Ioan Mangeron and Constantin Corduneanu — the latter two identified as corresponding members of the Romanian Academy —, Gheorghe Gheorghiev, Alexandru Climescu, Ion Creangă, Adolf Haimovici, Arsenie Oprea, Tudora Luchian, Ștefania Ruscior, Olga Costinescu, Ion Ghinea, Viorel Camil Murgescu, Ion Enescu, Elena Pușcașu, Adrian Corduneanu and Pavel Talpalăru, among others.

The department’s research earned recognition in Romania and internationally. Staff published hundreds of original papers in the Bulletin of the Iași Polytechnic Institute and in mathematics journals in Romania and abroad. For decades, the Bulletin was exchanged with international journals, adding to the university library’s scientific holdings. Department members served on editorial boards abroad and published monographs with publishers including Pitman and Kluwer. They also wrote textbooks, problem collections and research monographs, published by the “Gheorghe Asachi” Press and other publishers in Iași, Bucharest and other university cities, especially after 1990.

Some staff taught at universities abroad or worked on international research projects, including in the United States. Participation in scientific meetings and international conferences was also a substantial part of the department’s work.

Library and computer laboratory

The department’s small library was founded with a major contribution from Dimitrie Mangeron as the Polytechnic’s “Mathematics Seminar”. A computer laboratory with an Internet communications node was established after 1990.