Dear Burglind and Oleg: Let me express my sincere sympathy for you with regard to the decision of the administration of the university to ask you to resign. As a Swede and a former professor at the university I feel ashamed for the way that the matter has been handled and the lack of constructive thinking on the part of the leaders of the university. I also regret that the department in this way will loose two of its most ditinguished members.

I also feel sympathy for your opinion - if not for the wording of your critisism - on the matter concerning the appointment of a professor in applied mathematics. During my active years I devoted considerable effort to the question how applied mathematics could be promoted. See for example my presidential address to the international congress of mathematicians in Warsaw 1983. A most essential feature of successful applied mathematics is that it relies on advanced mathematical knowledge. The simple models (e.g. in biology) are much better handled by experts in the field themselves. There is no room for amateurs and consensus with the mathematicians is vital to make cooperation possible. An appointment by administrative decree is completely counter productive.

In this matter the real loosers are not you but Swedish mathematics and the university of Uppsala and its international reputation.

With best regards,        Lennart