Dr. Pilar Bayer
Pilar Bayer, Professor Emerita at the University of Barcelona, founder of the Barcelona Number Theory Seminar, member of the Governing Board of the Catalan Mathematical Society, and Numerary Member and Vice-President of the Experimental Sciences Section of the Royal European Academy of Doctors (READ), was invested magistra honoris causa by the Faculty of Mathematics and Statistics of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia during a solemn ceremony held on 12 November in the faculty’s main hall.
The event was presided over by the university’s rector, Francesc Torres, who highlighted the academician’s teaching and research achievements, and was conducted by professor and pianist Laura Farré-Rozada, like Bayer herself a musician. The ceremony also included interventions from the dean of the faculty, Jordi Guàrdia; the academic secretary, Chara Pantanzi, who read the agreement of the Faculty Board granting this distinction to Pilar Bayer; and professor Anna Rio, who delivered the laudatio for the honouree. The newly appointed magistra also offered an emotional speech, enriched by a musical performance from saxophonist Marcel·lí Bayer, her son. The session closed with the Ol·lari Choir of the faculty performing the traditional university hymn Gaudeamus igitur.
The title magister honoris causa was first proposed by former dean Sebastià Xambó in 2006, with the aim of creating an honorary distinction recognising individuals of outstanding prestige who, though not members of the faculty’s teaching staff, had contributed significantly to the dissemination of mathematical or statistical knowledge. Since then, only two individuals had received the title: Josep Pla in 2007 and Jaume Pagès in 2008. The nomination of Pilar Bayer—also proposed by Xambó—was approved last December by the Faculty Board.
The Faculty of Mathematics and Statistics highlighted that the academician has played a crucial role in the development of number theory in Spanish mathematics. Bayer is also a Numerary Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona and of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences. She has received the Narcís Monturiol Medal for Scientific and Technological Merit and was awarded last December the Creu de Sant Jordi, the highest distinction granted by the Government of Catalonia.
