"Uncle Sileg"

- CONTENT -
DAVID ZILAG (22 OCTOBER 1946, MILAN – 29 JULY 2012, HAIFA) WAS A PROFESSOR AT THE FACULTY OF MATHEMATICS AT THE TECHNION.

FINISHED A BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN MATHEMATICS AT TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY AND A PH.D. AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS IN URBANA-SAMIN. IT WAS ACCEPTED TO THE FACULTY OF MATHEMATICS AT THE TECHNION IN 1975.

BEYOND HIS STUDIES, HE WAS A POPULAR AND VALUED LECTURER. SINCE THE LEADERSHIP OF THE TECHNION’S LECTURERS SURVEY, HE HAS CONSISTENTLY WON THE TITLE OF “A GREAT LECTURER” AND THEREFORE HAS BEEN AWARDED THE TITLE “AN OUTSTANDING LECTURER.”
DUE TO HIS RECORDINGS FOR THE COMPLETION OF MATHEMATICS COURSES AT THE TECHNION, HE HAS SKIPPED TO THE PRESENT DAY RECEIVING THE DEGREE OF OUTSTANDING LECTURER, DESPITE HIS DEATH.

BIOGRAPHY

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH
DAVID TSLAG WAS BORN IN MILAN ON OCTOBER 22, 1946 TO HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS WHO ORGANIZED TO IMMIGRATE TO ISRAEL IN A GROUP OF ZIONIST YOUTH. IN APRIL 1947, WHEN HE WAS SIX MONTHS OLD, THE GROUP LEFT ITALY ON THE SHIP "GO AHEAD" AND TRIED TO IMMIGRATE TO ISRAEL. THE BRITISH SEIZED THE SHIP, AND ITS PASSENGERS WERE TAKEN TO A DETENTION CAMP IN CYPRUS, WHERE THEY WERE STAYING UNTIL FEBRUARY 1948, WHEN THEY IMMIGRATED TO ISRAEL. WITH THEIR RISE TO ISRAEL, THEY LIVED IN YEMEN, MOVED TO THE KIBBUTZ, AND TWO YEARS LATER THEY MOVED TO THE STREETS. BOTH PARENTS WERE INTEGRATED AS TEACHERS IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.

ZIGGLE GREW UP IN THE STREETS, ATTENDED THE HIGH SCHOOL, AND WAS AN OUTSTANDING STUDENT. IN HIS YOUTH, HE WAS A MENTOR AND A GUIDE TO THE YOUNG GUARD MOVEMENT. WITH HIS RECRUITMENT TO THE IDF, HE WAS ADMITTED TO A FLIGHT COURSE IN THE AIR FORCE, BUT WAS FORCED TO LEAVE HIM DUE TO AN ACCIDENT AND CONTINUED SERVICE.

ACADEMY
AFTER THE MILITARY SERVICE, HE BEGAN TO STUDY MATHEMATICS AT TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY AND IN 1971 COMPLETED HIS BACHELOR’S DEGREE WITH HONORS. A YEAR LATER, HE ALSO GRADUATED FROM HIS MASTER’S DEGREE WITH GREAT HONORS, UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF MATHEMATICIAN PROF. HERZOG MARCEL. DURING HIS STUDIES, HE WORKED IN HIGH SCHOOL TEACHING. AT THE END OF HIS MASTER’S STUDIES, HE RECEIVED A SCHOLARSHIP TO DOCTORAL STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-SHAMPER, UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF THE MATHEMATICIAN PROF. MICHIO SUZUKI. HIS DOCTORAL WORK DEALT WITH THE FINAL IGNORANCE. THE TITLE WAS AWARDED IN 1975.

UPON GRADUATION, HE RETURNED TO ISRAEL AND BECAME A FACULTY MEMBER OF THE TECHNION’S FACULTY OF MATHEMATICS, WHERE HE SPECIALIZED IN THE FINAL COMPOSITION. HE PUBLISHED MORE THAN 50 ORIGINAL ARTICLES IN THE PROFESSIONAL MATHEMATICAL LITERATURE AND TWO BOOKS, CO-AUTHORED IN THE TEXTBOOKS "LINEAR ALGEBRA II" IN THE OPEN UNIVERSITY PRESS, AND LAID OUT FOUR OF THEM FOR HIGH DEGREES. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE ISRAELI ASSOCIATION FOR MATHEMATICS AND THE ASSOCIATIONS FOR MATHEMATICS OF THE UNITED STATES AND EUROPE. HE HAS BEEN INVITED MANY TIMES TO CARRY OPEN LECTURES AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES IN HIS SPECIALTY. IN THE SHAKY YEARS SHE WAS A GUEST PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII IN HONOLULU AND AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA.

HE MARRIED NALA IN 1971, AND HE BROUGHT ORLEY AND JONATHAN TO THE WORLD.

THE LAST YEARS OF HIS LIFE
IN JUNE 2011, HE DISCOVERED THAT HE WAS ILL IN LYMPHOMA. ALTHOUGH HE HAD UNDERGONE CHEMOTHERAPY, BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT, HE DIED ON 29 JULY 2012. THAT SAME YEAR, AND AT THE SAME TIME, HE FINISHED WRITING THE BOOK "PREPARATION FOR THE FIRES." IN ADDITION, HE WORKED ON A BOOK THAT HELPED STUDENTS IN A LINEAR ALGEBRA, WHICH HE DID NOT FINISH.

PROUD OF TEACHING.
HIS CAREER IN TEACHING BEGAN AS A HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER AND AS A TEACHING ASSISTANT AT THE UNIVERSITY DURING HIS STUDIES. UPON JOINING THE TECHNION IN 1975, HE BEGAN TO LECTURE IN VARIOUS COURSES AT THE FACULTY OF MATHEMATICS FOR STUDENTS IN ALL DEGREES. SINCE THEN, FOR NEARLY FORTY YEARS, HE HAS BEEN AWARDED THE TITLE OF “EXCELLENT LECTURER” AT THE TECHNION EVERY YEAR – APART FROM THE YEARS IN WHICH HE WAS ABROAD IN HAWAII AND MINNESOTA AND ALSO WON A SIMILAR TITLE. IN 2010 HE WAS AWARDED THE TITLE OF “AVERLY OUTSTANDING LECTURER” AND THUS OPENED THE POSSIBILITY OF OBTAINING THIS DEGREE FOR MORE LECTURERS.

PROF. ZILAG'S LECTURES IN THREE DIFFERENT ALGEBRA COURSES IN TAMACH