Sunday Osarumwense Iyahen

(3 October 1937 – 28 January 2018)

Sunday Osarumwense Iyahen was a Nigerian mathematician and politician, renowned for his pioneering contributions to the field of topological vector spaces and for his service as a senator representing Bendel Central Senatorial District. He was one of Nigeria's most accomplished mathematical scholars, with over 100 publications, and held senior academic and political positions throughout his life.

Early Life and Education

Born in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, Iyahen was the eldest of at least seventeen children of Solomon Igbinuwen Iyahen and Aiwekhoe Iyahen.

He began his early education at:

• Saint Matthew’s Primary School (1944–1945)
• Saint Peter’s School (1945–1951), both run by the Church Mission Society (CMS)

He then attended:

• Edo College, where he earned a Division One in the Cambridge School Certificate (1956)
• Government College, Ibadan for the Cambridge Higher School Certificate (1957–1958)

In 1959, he enrolled at University College, Ibadan, graduating in 1963 with a First-Class Honours degree in Mathematics.

He proceeded to the University of Keele, where he earned:

• Ph.D. in Mathematics (1967)
• D.Sc. in Mathematics (1987)

Academic Career

Iyahen began his career as a lecturer in mathematics at the University of Ibadan in 1965. His academic progression included:

• Senior Lecturer (1969)
• Professor (1974)
• Head, Department of Mathematics (1976–1978)
• Dean, Faculty of Science (1978–1980)

In 1980, he moved to the Institute of Technology, Benin (now University of Benin) as:

• Founding Dean, Faculty of Physical Sciences
• Director, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Abuja

He served as a visiting professor at institutions including:

• University of Lagos
• University of Jos
• University of Port Harcourt
• University of Ilorin
• University of Nigeria, Nsukka
• University of Cape Coast (Ghana)
• University of Khartoum (Sudan)
• University of Waterloo (Canada)

His academic legacy includes:

• 100+ published papers in international journals
• Editor-in-Chief roles for Afrika Mathematika and the Journal of the Nigerian Mathematical Society
• Chairman, Board of Federal Polytechnic, Idah

Professional Memberships & Fellowships

• Fellow, Nigerian Academy of Science
• Fellow, Mathematical Association of Nigeria
• Member, London Mathematical Society
• Member, American Mathematical Society
• Member, International Mathematical Union

Political Career

Iyahen served as a senator in the Federal Republic of Nigeria on two occasions:

• Second Republic: Represented Bendel Central Senatorial District under the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) (October–December 1983)
• Third Republic: Same district under the Social Democratic Party (SDP) (August 1992–November 1993)

Senate Roles

• Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, Science and Technology
• Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriation

Personal Life and Death

Iyahen married Veronica Aigboduwa Osagie on 25 September 1967. They had six children and eleven grandchildren.

He passed away on 28 January 2018 in Benin City, Edo State, and was buried on 16 February 2018 at his residence.

Selected Publications

• Iyahen, S. O. (1967). Some remarks on countably barrelled and countably quasibarrelled spaces. Proc. Edinburgh Math. Soc., 15(4): 295–296. DOI(https://doi.org/10.1017/s0013091500011949)
• Iyahen, S. O. (2017). Mathematics, Science, and Cultural Change. Proc. Nigerian Academy of Science, 10(1). DOI(https://doi.org/10.57046/eqbu2235)
• Iyahen, S. O. (2010). Boundedly barrelled spaces and the open mapping theorem. Portugaliae Mathematica, 46(3): 305–312.
• Iyahen, S. O. (1978). The range space in a closed graph theorem. Acta Math. Hungar., 32(1–2): 17–20.
• Iyahen, S. O. (1968). Semiconvex spaces. Glasgow Math. J., 9(2): 111–118.
• Iyahen, S. O. (1969). Semiconvex spaces II. Glasgow Math. J., 10(2): 103–105.
• Iyahen, S. O. (1972). A note on the filter condition. Acta Math. Hungar., 23(3–4): 271–274.
• Iyahen, S. O. (1968). -spaces and the closed-graph theorem. Proc. Edinburgh Math. Soc., 16(2): 89–99.
• Iyahen, S. O. & Popoola, J. O. (1973). A generalized inductive limit topology for linear spaces. Glasgow Math. J., 14(2): 105–110.
• Iyahen, S. O. (1971). Bounded generators in linear topological spaces. Glasgow Math. J., 12(2): 105–109.
• Iyahen, S. O. (1969). Ultrabarrelled groups and the closed graph theorem. Math. Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc., 65(1): 53–58.

External Links

• Sunday Iyahen – Mathematics Genealogy Project(https://www.mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=xxxxx)
• Sunday Iyahen – MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive(https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Iyahen/)