The Hunter community mourns the loss of Brian Shay, a longtime member of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics faculty.
Professor Shay died on January 3, just months after completing his final major work—a highly original paper, co-authored by Hunter lecturer Patrick Brazil, on probability theory and its application to artificial intelligence.
“This paper completes Brian’s legacy as an independent thinker and a restless mind, always striving to find new solutions to mathematical problems,” said Olympia Hadjiliadis, professor of mathematics, adding that her colleague also had a big impact on Hunter students—especially those who worked with him on projects addressing mathematical finance, game theory and probability.
Professor Shay earned his BA and MA in mathematics and statistics from Fordham, and his PhD from CUNY. Beginning his career as an algebraic topologist, he wrote several outstanding papers in the field. He later switched his focus to probability theory and mathematical finance, and during his distinguished tenure at Hunter, shared his expertise with generations of students.
“He will be deeply missed by his students and his colleagues,” said Barry Cherkas, professor of mathematics and department chair.
