Neisendorfer and Pizer to Retire

Two long-time faculty members, Joe Neisendorfer and Arnie Pizer , will retire at the end of the 2006-2007 academic year.

Neisendorfer joined the department in the early 80's. He is well regarded for his work in algebraic topology, and there was a recent conference in honor of his 60th birthday at University of Montreal. Joe was chairman in the early 90's, when the department was hit by the draconian cutbacks of the renaissance plan. Several years ago he suffered a serious heart problem, but he has been able to continue his wilderness hiking.

Pizer arrived at UR in 1976. His specialty is algebraic number theory, including quaternion algebras and modular forms. Along with Mike Gage, he developed the Webwork system which allows students to do their homework online. Webwork is now used in over 100 universities. Pizer was associate chairman for many years.

Both Joe and Arnie plan to stay in Rochester, although Arnie will spend a good part of each year skiing in Colorado.