Ernst Sejersted Selmer
Ernst Sejersted Selmer was a Norwegian mathematician and cryptologist. His work encompasses a variety of topics in pure and applied mathematics, ranging from Diophantine equations and number theory to linear recursion and periodic sequences. He was a professor at the University of Bergen from 1957 to his retirement in 1990, during which period he significantly contributed not only to the scientific but also administrative and pedagogical activities of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, serving as dean of the faculty from 1960 to 1968. It is during this period that he used his expertise to lay the theoretical foundation behind the Norwegian social security number, which was introduced in 1964 and remains in use to this day. Selmer was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters. For his achievements on a national and academic level, Selmer was awarded the Order of St. Olav, first class, in 1983.
On Selmer’s birthday, February 11, 2003, the Selmer center was established in honor of prof. Selmer on the foundation of the coding and cryptography group at the University of Bergen, and it conducts research in cryptology, data security, and discrete mathematics. With the co-location of the Selmer Center and Simula UiB, Bergen has one of the largest and more influential crypto research environments in Scandinavia.
The Ernst Selmer National Event
In celebration of the 100-th anniversary of Prof. Ernst Sejersted Selmer
February 11, 2020, Bergen, Norway
Organized by the Selmer Center and Simula UiB
We are pleased to announce the Ernst Selmer National Event with the purpose of gathering national collaborators, representatives from the government, the University of Bergen, and other organizations which have taken part in the development of the Selmer Center, to celebrate Selmer’s 100-th anniversary. The event will take place on February 11, 2020 from 08:00 to 16:00 at the auditorium at Vilvite in Bergen, Norway.
A program for the event (in Norwegian) is available online.