Rate My Professor Finnur Larusson

Professor Finnur Lárusson is a professor of pure mathematics at Adelaide University, serving as Dean of the School of Mathematical Sciences. He obtained his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1992. Before joining the University of Adelaide in 2006, he was Professor at the University of Western Ontario from 1995 to 2007. His academic career encompasses various leadership positions, including Head of the School of Mathematical Sciences from 2021 to 2022, Interim Head in 2021 and 2023, Discipline Lead for Mathematical Sciences from 2023 to 2025, and Interim Head of the School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences in 2023. Lárusson has extensive teaching experience across all levels, from first-year courses to honours and master's, and supervises postgraduate students. He has held directorial roles in teaching and learning, such as Director of Teaching from 2013 to 2016, Director of Teaching Development from 2017 to 2019, and Director (Learning and Teaching) through 2020. He contributed significantly to the development of the new curriculum for Adelaide University from 2023 to 2026 and founded the Learning and Teaching Working Group in the School of Mathematical Sciences in 2014-2017.

Lárusson's research centers on holomorphic geometry in complex analysis and complex geometry, extending to dynamics, contact geometry, geometric invariant theory, and the theory of minimal surfaces. He maintains active collaborations with mathematicians internationally and has co-organized ten face-to-face conferences, sessions, and workshops in Europe, Canada, and Australia since 2009, along with two international virtual conferences. From August to November 2016, he was a research fellow at the Centre for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in Oslo. He served as the sole chief investigator on Australian Research Council Discovery Grants: "Flexibility and symmetry in complex geometry" (2012-2014) and "Homotopical structures in algebraic, analytic, and equivariant geometry" (2015-2017). He delivers regular invited talks at international conferences. Notable publications include "A Strong Parametric h-Principle for Complete Minimal Surfaces" (2025, with A. Alarcón), "Oka-1 manifolds: New examples and properties" (2025, with F. Forstnerič), "Regular immersions directed by algebraically elliptic cones" (2025, with A. Alarcón), "Dynamics of generic automorphisms of Stein manifolds with the density property" (2025, with L. Arosio), and "Equivariant Oka theory: survey of recent progress" (2022, with F. Kutzschebauch and G. W. Schwarz). Lárusson has engaged in school education through programs like Mathematicians in Schools (2010-2017) and ChooseMaths (2017-2018).