Walter K. Hayman FRS (1926–2020) A Biographical Sketch

Abstract

He had attended the One Day Function Theory Meeting, an annual meeting that he was instrumental in establishing and at which he was always the principal participant, at De Morgan House the previous September; when he arrived, the entire audience stood up and applauded. Walter's health deteriorated between then and Christmas following a fall, and he passed away peacefully in hospital on New Year's Day 2020. An event had been planned by Eleanor Lingham (Sheffield-Hallam) and Rémi Lodh (Springer) to mark the publication of Research Problems in Function Theory by Walter Hayman and Eleanor Lingham [15], the 50th anniversary edition of the original problem collection [8]. The event was arranged to coincide with Walter's birthday on 6th January. Instead, and with great sadness, those present met to remember Walter, joined by his daughter Carolyn.Walter Hayman was, for decades, the dominant figure in the study of entire and meromorphic functions and associated fields. He was well aware of his responsibilities to the subject and its practitioners, and unfailingly fulfilled them. He became a central Tom Carroll