Announcements

Professor Mark Burgin, a renowned mathematician, logician, computer scientist, and information theoretician, passed away on Saturday, February 18, 2023. He was President-Elect of the IS4SI, International Society for the Study of Information, where he served as Vice-President for Publications for many years and one of the main moving forces of the summit of IS4SI where he organized the conference series “Theoretical and Foundational Problems (TFP) In Information Studies”. Prof. Burgin was a prominent figure in the IS4SI organization, a cohesive force, a highly respected colleague, and a friend.

Prof. Burgin earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in mathematics from Moscow State University. He later went on to receive a Doctor of Science (DSc) in logic and philosophy from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Throughout his career, he held various academic positions, including Visiting Professor at UCLA, a Professor at the Institute of Education, Kiev, Ukraine, at International Solomon University, Kiev, Ukraine, at Kiev State University, Ukraine, the Head of the Assessment Laboratory of the Research Center of Science at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Chief Scientist at Institute of Psychology, Kiev. At the time of his passing, he was affiliated with UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Prof. Mark Burgin was widely recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to a broad range of fields, including mathematics, information sciences, theory of algorithms, theory of knowledge, computer science, system theory, philosophy, logic, psychology, cognitive sciences, social sciences, pedagogical sciences, and methodology of science. He was the first to address Non-Diophantine arithmetics, and to axiomatize and build mathematical foundations for negative probability used in physics, finance, and economics. He also constructed new classes of automata that overcame the barrier posed by the Church-Turing Thesis in computer science. His recent contribution to Super-Symbolic Computing and the General Theory of Information with Structural Machines is leading to various practical applications in enhancing machine intelligence to solve diverse problems in healthcare and self-regulating software systems in distributed computing environments.

In addition to various contributions in specific areas of science, Prof. Burgin paid great attention to the new development of scientific methodology. He published a number of papers on methodology including “Methodology of Information Ecology in the Context of Modern Academic Research”, “Techn-Ecology and Problems of Education”, “Principles of General Ecology” and “Introduction to Modern Exact Methodology of Science”, as well as the edited book Philosophy and Methodology of Information: The Study of Information in a Transdisciplinary Perspective.

Dr. Burgin authored and co-authored over 500 papers and 21 books, including Theory of Knowledge: Structure and Processes (2016), Structural Reality (2012), Hypernumbers and Extrafunctions: Extending the Classical Calculus (2012), Theory of Named Sets (2011), Theory of Information: Fundamentality, Diversity and Unification (2010), Measuring Power of Algorithms, Computer Programs, and Information Automata (2010), Neoclassical Analysis: Calculus Closer to the Real World (2008), Super-recursive Algorithms (2005), On the Nature and Essence of Mathematics (1998), Intellectual Components of Creativity (1998), Fundamental Structures of Knowledge and Information: Achievement of an Absolute (1997), Non-Diophantine Arithmetics or is it Possible that 2 + 2 ¹ 4’ (1997), Introduction to the Modern Exact Methodology of Science (1994), The Structure-Nominative Analysis of Theoretical Knowledge (1992), and The World of Theories and Power of Mind (1992).

Prof. Mark Burgin was a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, a Senior Member of IEEE, the Society for Computer Modeling and Simulation International, and the International Society for Computers and their Applications. He was also an Honorary Professor of the Aerospace Academy of Ukraine, the Chair of the IEEE San Fernando Valley Computer and Communication Chapter, and the Secretary of the International Society for Computers and their Applications.

He was the editor of the World Scientific Series in Information Studies with 14 already published volumes and two that are forthcoming. Prof. Burgin served as an Associate Editor of the MDPI journal Information.

Prof. Mark Burgin’s extraordinary intellect and pioneering research will continue to inspire future generations of researchers. Prof. Burgin will be remembered for his outstanding contributions to the fields of mathematics, computer science, and information sciences as well as his work on methodology and transdisciplinary science. He was a brilliant scholar who made a significant impact on the academic community. He will be sorely missed by his colleagues, students, and the wider international academic community.

Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family, friends, and colleagues.

International Society for the Study of Information:

Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic, Vice-President for Protocol
Yixin Zhong, President
Pedro Marijuan, President
Gustavo Saldanha, President Elect
Marcin Schroeder, Immediate Past President
Wolfgang Hofkirchner, Vice-President for Funds
José María Díaz Nafría, Vice-President for Transdisciplinary Projects
Xueshan Yan, Vice-President for Institutional Membership
Zhicheng Chen, Vice-President for Special Interest Groups
Shigeo Kawashima, Vice-President for Regional Chapters
Wu Kun, Vice-President for Archives
Krassimir Markov, Vice-President for Research
Yagmur Denizhan, Vice-President for Educational Affairs
Jorge Navarro López, Vice-President for Conferences
Teresa Guarda, Vice-President for Communication
Annette Grathoff, Secretary

Peter N Boltuc, University of Illinois Springfield
Rao Mikkilineni, Golden Gate University
Eugene Eberbach, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Joseph E. Brenner, International Center for the Philosophy of Information, Xi’an Jiaotong University
Bill Seaman, Duke University