Fred Van Oystaeyen

Fred Van Oystaeyen is an emeritus mathematics professor at the University of Antwerp, Honorary professor at the Beijing Normal University and Doctor Honoris Causa at the Universidad de Almeria (Spain) and also at the Free University of Brussels.

He started the theory of non-commutative Algebraic Geometry in the period 1972-1975 and wrote 27 Monographs on Algebra and Geometry, edited many congress proceedings and authored or co-authored more than 300 scientific papers in international journals.

He lectured and traveled all over the world and during his travelings he gathered many philosophical ideas he finally published in the "Journey to the source of laughter" and "Night Thoughts" both available from Amazon.

His philosophical testament "Time Hybrids" has been published by Nova Science Publishers it is based on his original new view on Space-Time about which he also published scientifically. The new paradigms are stemming from dynamical non-commutative geometry, with existing things resulting from strings over existence intervals of non-existing pre-things in states of the universe.

He always loved to teach and tried to motivate the students to reach the research level.

He was the advisor for about 40 Ph.D. students and developed many international contacts via research cooperation's, congresses he organized and several European research projects

He always has been a great fan of blues music, his blues friends in the US gave him the nickname Bluesfesser Fred and he organized a great Blues Festival at Antwerp in 1993 and several tours of great blues artists in Belgium and Europe.

Another lifelong hobby is gardening and growing caudiciform succulent plants and cacti, he published a paper in Botanic based on his idea of finitary fractals applied to tree-shapes and forest growth and super-shape applied to roots.

As a young guy he started to write a novel at the age of 18 which he finished 55 years later after at least twelve re-writings, it is however not the never-ending story; this book "Irritation of the eye in darkness" has now been published.

His greatest joy in life are his wife,three children and three grandchildren!