This special issue of Applicable Analysis collects papers that friends, students and admirers have dedicated to the memory of Carlo Pucci, who died on January 10, 2003. He was a member of the Editorial Board of Applicable Analysis from its inception.
Carlo Pucci was a student of Giovanni Sansone and Mauro Picone, two prominent figures of the Italian school of mathematics. He graduated from the University of Florence, taught at the Universities of Rome, Catania and Genoa, and spent a period of time in the USA, mainly at the University of Maryland at College Park, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Louisiana at Baton Rouge, and Rice University. After 1968 he was professor of mathematics at the University of Florence. He served as President of the Unione Matematica Italiana; President of the Comitato Matematico of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; Director of the Istituto di Analisi Globale e Applicazioni of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; and President of the Istituto Nazionale di Alta Matematica.
Carlo Pucci was a first-rate scientist. He took great interest in various branches of mathematics, ranging from real analysis, convex sets, and calculus of variations to partial differential equations. His major achievements in mathematics consist of contributions to the theory of ill-posed problems, which he pioneered with F. John, M.M. Lavrentiev, L. Payne, and A.N. Tikhonov; the maximum principle for elliptic partial differential equations of general structure, which was discovered by him in 1966, and by A.D. Alexandrov and I. Bakelman, independently; and the introduction of extremal operators, which are still an object of study and nowadays named Bellmann–Pucci operators. A complete bibliography of Carlo Pucci's papers can be found in the book Partial differential equations and applications. Collected papers in honor of Carlo Pucci. P. Marcellini, G. Talenti and E. Vesentini, Eds., Marcel Dekker, New York, 1996.
Carlo Pucci was a stimulating and supportive teacher. Many of the contributors to this issue learned the mathematician's craft attending his classes and spending afternoons in his office. Students were always a priority in his dense daily schedule; his energy and advice helped them to overcome their moments of discouragement.
Carlo Pucci was a far-sighted manager and indefatigable leader. He worked hard promoting mathematics; he created new opportunities for students in mathematics; he created, revitalized, and conducted academic institutions; he animated the life of the mathematical community in Italy.
Contributors to the present volume include colleagues and friends from various countries and former students of his. This issue is intended to be a tribute to the memory of an excellent mathematician and mentor, and a remarkable person.