Administrator and Organizer
Although basically a person devoted to his science, Rolf Nevanlinna did not avoid admistrative duties. In the thirties he served as Faculty Dean and from 1941 to 1945 as Rector of the University of Helsinki. His strong inclination to Germany compelled him to leave the Rector's post in the new political situation created by the events of 1944, when Finland made peace with the Soviet Union.
Rolf Nevanlinna served as President of the International Mathematical Union, IMU, in 1959–63 and as President of the International Congress of Mathematicians, ICM, in 1962.
In 1964, Nevanlinna's connections with President Urho Kekkonen were instrumental in bringing about a total reorganization of the Academy of Finland.
From 1954, Rolf Nevanlinna chaired the committee which set about the first computer project in Finland. When the International Mathematical Union in 1981 decided to create a prize, similar to the Fields Medal, in theoretical computer science and the funding for the price was secured from Finland, the Union decided to give Nevanlinna's name to the prize. The Rolf Nevanlinna Prize is awarded every four years in the ICM.
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