The Contributions of Dominic Welsh to Matroid Theory

Dominic Welsh began writing papers in matroid theory almost forty years ago. Since then, he has made numerous important contributions to the subject. His book Matroid Theory provided the first comprehensive treatment of the subject and has served as an invaluable reference to many workers in the field. Dominic’s work on matroids has been characterized by his ability to build bridges between the subject and other areas of mathematics, by his talent for identifying tantalizing problems and making interesting conjectures that draw others in, by his infectious enthusiasm for problem solving that he has passed on to so many students, and by his writing on the subject that has popularized it making it both comprehensible and accessible. This paper reviews Dominic Welsh’s work in and influence on the development of matroid theory.