Karl Rubin

The department of mathematics received a blow this week when it failed to recruit a world-famous mathematician, officials said.

Karl Rubin, a top number theorist at Stanford University, declined an offer to relocate to the UA.

"He was on the market to move from Stanford. He considered us very seriously," said Nicholas Ercolani, the head of the mathematics department. "The negotiations went long, but he declined our offer."

Rubin declined to comment on why he turned down the UA because he is still negotiating with other universities.

Ercolani said Rubin, who is considered a leader in his field, would have brought prestige and research dollars to the UA.

"Karl would have brought a lot to the research program intellectually. He would have also brought a lot financially, though," said Doug Ulmer, associate head of the math graduate program and professor.

Over the last 15 years, the National Science Foundation has awarded Rubin and his research team more than $800,000 in grants. A $234,474 grant, which expires in 2005, could have transferred to the UA.

The UA was hoping to nab Rubin, an expert on number theory and elliptic curves, Ulmer said.

"These curves are really important to mathematicians and also have interesting real-world applications. These days, they get used in lots of cryptography applications like Îsmart cards' to keep data secure," Ulmer explained.

Whenever students use their CatCards, they use an item derived from theories developed by mathematicians, including Rubin.

The failure to attract Rubin did not seem to be much of a surprise to some who said the brain drain continues to take its toll on campus.

Brain drain is the term coined to describe the loss of top faculty and researchers to other universities that can pay higher salaries and offer better facilities.

"If we could have paid him more, he probably would have accepted the offer," Ulmer said.

Ulmer described the gap between the UA offer and other schools' offers as "tens of thousands of dollars."

"Unfortunately, it's a form of brain drain caused by tight budgets," Ulmer said.

Traditionally, the state Legislature funds about 30 percent of the UA budget. This amount has decreased dramatically over the last 15 years.

"The problem really was that we were competing against offers who had endowed shares that we do not have available here," Ercolani said. "President Likins needs to convince the Legislature that in order to boost and retain excellent faculty, we need to be more competitive."

This year President Peter Likins has made faculty salaries a top priority in his budget request to the Legislature, asking for an additional $15 million to fight the brain drain.

"We could do a lot better if we had more financial support from the Legislature," Ercolani said.

Traditionally, brain drain has referred to the erosion of top faculty from the UA to other academic institutions. The loss of Rubin illustrates the other problem university officials have to combat: trying to lure senior scholars at other universities.

Juan Garcia, vice provost for academic affairs, tracks the number of faculty and staff who leave the UA. He said, however, that the Provost's Office does not keep tabs on the number of senior scholars who are recruited, but ultimately turn down the UA.

"It is very difficult to say because we don't keep that kind of statistic," Garcia said.

Last year, the UA lost 60 faculty members to other institutions while retaining 74. The 2003 Faculty Retention/Loss Report stated that other institutions offered salaries that were an average of 34 percent higher.

One of the most well known examples of the brain drain involves Vernon Smith, an economics professor who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in October 2002, more than one year after leaving the UA.

Rubin has been at Stanford since 1997. Prior to Stanford, he taught at Ohio State University, Columbia University and Princeton University. He received his master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard University.

Other mathematics faculty members were disappointed to hear Rubin would not be joining the department.

"We already have a strong research group in number theory, and Dr. Rubin would have significantly strengthened that group," said Bill McCallum, a math professor. "As a teacher, he would have been a superb resource for undergraduates and graduate students seeking educational and research experiences in exciting areas of mathematics."

Although troubled by the loss, the math department was flattered by Rubin's consideration.

"It's an indication of what kind of reputation the number theory group and the math department have when someone wants to leave Stanford and come to Arizona," Ulmer said.