Eastern’s department of mathematics and computer science will be hosting the Perry Lectures today and Friday. It is a series of lectures related to groundbreaking achievements in the disciplines of mathematics and computer sciences. The lectures will be held in Room 2231 inside of Old Main from 4 to 4:50 p.m. both days.

This is the second year in a row Eastern will be hosting the lectures.

Former Eastern President William Perry made the Perry Lectures possible. Perry, who now lives near Dallas, Texas, set up an endowment fund to support Eastern’s department of mathematics and computer science, which he donates to on a regular basis.

Bogdan Petrenko, a mathematics professor at Eastern, helped to arrange this year’s series of lectures.

“The purpose of these lectures is to bring a well-known mathematician to campus so that they can explain an important concept from the field of mathematics and computer sciences,” Petrenko said.

This year, the featured speaker at the Perry Lectures will be Paul Schupp, a mathematics professor from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Schupp did his studies at Case Western Reserve University and the University of Michigan. He has also held mathematical lectures in numerous countries and received the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship during the 1977-78 academic year. Schupp’s topic for the Perry Lectures will be the theory of computability.

Computability, also known as recursion, is a branch of mathematical logic linked to the field of computer sciences that began in the 1930s when mathematicians of the era were studying the concepts of computable functions and Turning degrees, which were named for their creator, Alan Turing.

“Computability is a very complex yet extremely important mathematical concept,” Petrenko said. “Basically, the astonishing functions that our computers are capable of today would not be possible without computability.”

Schupp, who has held a Ph.D. in mathematics for 50 years, has dedicated his studies to the mathematical concept of computability, which qualifies him as an expert in the field.

“Dr. Schupp is a reputable mathematician who is very knowledgeable in the theory of computability, among other areas of mathematics.” Petrenko said. “The fact that Dr. Schupp is also an excellent speaker who can comfortably explain complicated mathematical concepts in simple terms that just about anybody can understand makes him a wonderful choice as our guest speaker for this year at the Perry Lectures.”

Nick Teresky can be reached at 581-2812 or nwteresky@eiu.edu.