Professor Angel Popov, a valued member of the AUBG community since his first class in the fall of 1994, passed away this July. Professor Popov leaves behind a legacy of academic excellence, intellectual generosity, and lasting impact on generations of students and colleagues.
“Angel was a highly and broadly competent mathematician, with a brilliant sense of humor and common-sense wisdom,” remembered Professor Emeritus Dimitar Christozov. “With his positive attitude, he created around him an atmosphere of friendship and relax.”
Professor Popov was born in 1949 in Shumen. He graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics (now the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics) at Sofia University in 1971 and began his academic career at the Unified Center for Mathematics and Mechanics. In 1977, under the supervision of Associate Professor Mihail Gavrilov, he defended his Ph.D. thesis on the topic “Varieties of Associative Algebras”.
Professor Popov was one of the leading figures in the Bulgarian school of algebras with identities, founded by Mihail Gavrilov and Georgi Genov. Among his most notable contributions are the solution to Specht’s problem for the variety generated by the algebra of triangular matrices, a description of the identities of the tensor square of the Grassmann algebra, and a classification of varieties of unitary algebras whose lattice of subvarieties is distributive.
He authored several textbooks and instructional guides that supported his teaching. The “Guide to Higher Algebra” (“Ръководство по висша алгебра”) he co-authored in 1990, remains one of the most important textbooks for all Bulgarian students majoring in algebra.
At AUBG, Professor Popov taught a wide array of mathematics courses from Finite Mathematics and Calculus to Linear Algebra, Abstract Algebra, Game Theory, and Number Theory. He was known for his clarity of explanation, deep knowledge, and ability to make even the most abstract concepts accessible. Former students often speak of his well-organized lectures and wry sense of humor. In 2017, he became part of the first cohort of AUBG faculty to earn the distinguished Professor Emeritus status.
Professor Christozov worked for many years alongside Professor Popov. He thought the latter’s diverse culture and knowledge allowed him to add a variety of perspectives to any topic.
“I was impressed by his ability to present complex and highly abstract concepts in an easy way, allowing students to acquire the needed understanding,” he said. “Much later, when it came to me to teach this course, I was so sorry to miss the opportunity to sit in Angel’s class and to learn from his expertise and pedagogical experience.”
Professor Popov was not only an academic but also a generous colleague and a true intellectual, whose curiosity extended well beyond mathematics. Professor Hristo Iliev remembers how supportive Professor Popov was towards him in his first months at AUBG.
“He wrote my first peer review in 2009 and later gave me helpful advice on how to structure and teach Abstract Algebra,” he said. “Former students often told me how much they appreciated his lectures and his sense of humor.”
Though he had faced health issues in recent years, Professor Popov remained intellectually active and connected to the community. His passing came unexpectedly, and the news was met with sorrow by all who had the privilege of knowing and learning from him.
“We lost one highly valuable mind, which we, his friends, will miss,” Christozov said.
