Yousef Alavi

Yousef Alavi was an Iranian born American mathematician who specialized in combinatorics and graph theory. He received his PhD from Michigan State University in 1958.

Early life and education (1928–1958)

Alavi was born in the city of Ahvaz in Pahlavi Iran in 1928. He moved to the United States in 1948. There, he earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Michigan State University in 1953, a master's in math from the same school in 1955, and a PhD in 1958.

Career (1958–1996)

He was a professor of mathematics at Western Michigan University from 1958 until his retirement in 1996; he chaired the department from 1989 to 1992.
Alavi was known for complaining that "this is highly irregular!" He was also a frequent host for Paul Erdős on his visits to Western Michigan. On one of these visits, these two things came together: he made his usual complaint at a time when Erdős and Ronald Graham were present. This sparked a discussion on what it might mean for a graph to be highly irregular, kicking off a line of joint research on highly irregular graphs through which Alavi obtained Erdős number one.
In 1987, he received the first Distinguished Service Award of the Michigan Section of the Mathematical Association of America due to his 30 years of service to the MAA; at that time, the Michigan House and Senate issued a special resolution honoring him.

Death and legacy

Before his death, Alavi had been dedicated to his wife and son, both of whom ended up surviving him. He was remembered for possessing "great energy", "kindness", and "good humor".
Alavi died on May 21, 2023; his health had been worsening for several months prior. A private funeral was held for him at the Riverside Cemetery at noon on May 23, and a memorial service was held for him on June 29 in the Kanley Chapel.
In remembrance of Alavi, the "Yousef Alavi Memorial Symposium" was held from October 24 to 25, 2013, on the sixth floor of the Everett Tower at WMU, as well as the Fetzer Center. It was free and open to the public. Speakers included Fan Chung and Ronald Graham, both of the University of California, San Diego.