Abdon Atangana, a Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of the Free State (UFS) in South Africa, currently holds the title of the world’s number one mathematician.
He is ranked number one in applied mathematics, mathematical physics, mathematics, and statistics globally, and ranks at 260 in the entirety of science, technology, and engineering on the Stanford University World’s Top 2% Scientists list.
This marks the second consecutive time that Atangana has secured the highest standing among scientists affiliated with the institution in Stanford University’s annual assessment of the top 2% of scientists worldwide. Stanford University’s prestigious list comprises the top 2% of world-class researchers.
“The ranking provides us with the impact of our outputs, and it shows that Africans can contribute to the development of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics while still in Africa,” Atangana said, according to UFS.
“This also shows that Africans in Africa can have an impact on the world. My motivation is to tell the next generation that Africans do not always need to graduate from the top universities of the global North to make a global impact.
“We must work hard to make our African universities reach the same level as those from the global North, such that a student from the global North will wish to enrol in our universities. The development of our continent does not rest on sport, music, and so forth alone, but on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Having the best scientists, mathematicians, and engineers in the world in Africa should be the strive of all Africans.”
Professor Abdon Atangana, 39, is originally from Cameroon but has lived in Bloemfontein, South Africa for 14 years. In 2022, he was ranked the second-best mathematician in the world and No. 188 in all of science, technology, and engineering in Stanford University’s Top 2% Scientists in the World.
The UFS at that time said Atangana being placed 188th in the world shows the influence of his study which can be compared to other fields that are ranked among the top 200 in the world.
“I am the author of various crucial mathematical ideas that are applied and pure mathematics. For instance, I created the Atangana-Baleanu fractional derivatives and integrals, which constitute a novel calculus and are based on the general Mittag-Leffler kernels. Since its inception in 2016, this fractional calculus has been employed in various fields of science, technology, and engineering,” the professor said at the time.
“I am the creator of various concepts in epidemiological modelling, numerical analysis, and integral transformations. I am also the pioneer of fractal-fractional calculus, which is employed in all domains of applied sciences. I developed the most recent ideas known as piecewise differentiation and integration.”
In 2020, Professor Abdon Atangana was acknowledged as one of the 10 South African scientists in the top 1% of scientists on the global Clarivate Web of Science list.
He is famous for developing a fractional operator, a prototype of real-world problems recorded in the fields of engineering, science and technology.