Meet: Professor Abdon Atangana - the number one ranked mathematician in the world

Prof Abdon Atangana is a leading applied Mathematics professor at the University of the Free State (UFS) who obtained his honours and master's degrees from the Department of Applied Mathematics with distinction.

Atangana obtained his PhD degree in applied mathematics from the Institute for Groundwater Studies.

He serves as an editor for 18 international journals, a reviewer of more than 200 international accredited journals, and has been awarded the world champion of peer review twice, in 2016 and 2017.

Atangana also serves on more than 20 editorial boards of applied mathematics and mathematics, has presented and participated in more than 20 international conferences and has been invited as plenary speaker in more than 10 international conferences of applied mathematics and mathematics.

Atangana's research interests are methods and applications of partial and ordinary differential equations, fractional differential equations, perturbation methods, asymptotic methods, iterative methods, and groundwater modelling.

He is also the founder of the fractional calculus with non-local and non-singular kernels popular in applied mathematics today.

Since 2013, the professor was published in 165 international accredited journals of applied mathematics, applied physics, geo-hydrology and bio-mathematics, and is the single author of two books in 'Academic Press Elsevier.'

Atangana says 'mathematics is not just a formula nor does it exist in isolation but it can be used to solve real life problems' like using math to inform our response to solve issues such as climate change.

Because of this approach to mathematics, Atangana is involved in hosting and speaking at the first African Conference for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ACIAM 2024) which will take place in Cape Town from 30 September to 5 October.

The primary objective of ACIAM 2024 is to share valuable mathematical knowledge with other industry professionals who can implement mathematical theory for practical, scientific, or industrial use to promote economic growth and technological advancement across the African continent and globally.

In addition, the conference will also witness the inauguration of the African Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ASIAM).

Atangana says the conference has taken so long to be hosted in Africa because African people have been 'marganalised from international events like this historically' while 'limitations of funds' is also a factor because 'there is not much focus on education or funding it in many areas in Africa.'

Atangana would like future mathematicians to know that being a mathematician from Africa is possible and it is enough to compete on a global stage.