About Rob Nederpelt

Last changes: September 16th, 2014

Robert Pieter Nederpelt Lazarom is a guest researcher in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, group Model Driven Software Development, of the Technische Universiteit (University of Technology) Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

He was born on July 19th, 1942 in the Hague, the Netherlands. He finished grammar school (Het Nederlands Lyceum in The Hague) in 1959. After studying Mathematics at Leiden University, the Netherlands, Rob Nederpelt received his Ph.D. at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven in 1973. His Ph.D. supervisor was professor N.G. de Bruijn, the founder of the Automath mathematical proof checker.
Subsequently, Rob Nederpelt worked as an assistant professor in the math department of the Eindhoven university. Later he became an associate professor in Applied Logic, in the computer science department.

He is currently working on the theory of formalizing mathematical texts with help of a computer. This is a continuation of his work with de Bruijn, which was followed, two decades ago, by an intensive collaboration with Fairouz Kamareddine (Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh). He also published in 2004 two books that were co-authored by mrs. Kamareddine.

In using type theory as a medium for fully expressing all kinds of mathematical thoughts -- ranging from definitions to theorems and complete proofs -- he follows the lines marked out by N.G. de Bruijn and filled in by Henk Barendregt and his group at the University of Nijmegen. One member of the Nijmegen staff is Herman Geuvers, with whom Rob Nederpelt recently published a book: `Type Theory and Formal Proof. An Introduction' (Cambridge University Press, 2014).

Outside the university, Rob Nederpelt has the following favourites, apart from family life and friends:

1. Theatre performances, in particular the smaller, experimental productions. (Rob Nederpelt acted for over fourty years as a theatre reviewer for De Volkskrant and Eindhovens Dagblad.)
2. Music, in particular modern jazz (bebop and later) and classical chamber music.
3. Tennis. He is an enthousiastic amateur player (with matching low grade).
4. Moreover, he likes mountains (one-day hiking), lakes (sailing) and beautiful landscapes.