In memoriam Curt Lindner

Curt with son Curt Jr at the 2017 SEICCGTC after receiving the 2013 Euler Medal

Charles Curtis Lindner of Auburn, Alabama, was born on July 21, 1938, in Tampa, Florida, and passed peacefully into Heaven on February 21, 2023. He was 84 years old.

Mr. Lindner was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church. He graduated from Decatur High School in 1956, and Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina in 1960 where he ran track.  He earned Masters and PhD from Emory University in 1969, with dissertation "Some Embedding Theorems for Partial Latin Squares" under advisor Trevor Evans.

Curtis proudly served in the United States Army and the United States Army Reserve from 1956 until 1964.

He married Ann Richards on March 10, 1961.

Curtis worked as a professor at Auburn University from 1969, achieving the status of Distinguished University Professor. He was also Honorary Professor, University of Queensland from 1994 and Honorary Professor of Combinatorics Universita di Catania from 2004.

He is survived by sons, Charles Timothy Lindner, Curtis William Lindner, and James Richards Lindner (Cheri); grandsons, Alex Reece Lindner, and Nicholas James Lindner.

2013 Euler Medal award to Charles C. (Curt) Lindner 

Forty-five years ago, Curt Lindner surprised the combinatorial community by finding a small embedding for partial Steiner triple systems, turning a complex mystery into a simple truth. Ever since, in over 200 refereed journal papers and through numerous invited and keynote lectures, he has made apparently complex problems much more approachable. His research began with embedding problems, but now encompasses a broad sweep across combinatorial design theory, especially cycle systems and graph designs. Curt has mentored more than 20 PhD students, and collaborated extensively with international colleagues. As his nominators say, “Curt is a catalyst” with his “captivating way of encouraging others to join him in mathematical exploration.”

Euler Medals recognize distinguished lifetime career contributions to combinatorial research by Fellows of the ICA who are still active in research.  Normally, at most one medal per year is awarded.