Journal of Lie Theory

This second number of Volume 30 (2020) of the Journal of Lie Theory is dedicated to one of the founding editors of this journal, Jimmie D. Lawson.
Jimmie D. Lawson arrived at Louisiana State Univerity (LSU) as assistant professor in 1968 after serving for one year as an assistant professor at the University at Tennessee. In 2018 he had thus served as a researcher, educator, and administrator at LSU for half a century. His research accomplishments and dedication to the University were recognized by LSU in 1999 when he was awarded the title of a Boyd Professor, the most prestigious title awarded by LSU to its faculty members.
Jimmie Lawson has been a leading researcher in various areas of mathematics to which he contributed significantly, including algebraic topology, convex cones in finite and infinite dimensional spaces, Lie semigroups, control theory, matrix geometry, partially ordered sets and topological semilattices.
Since his graduation in 1967, he published 147 highly cited and recognized research articles, coauthored 4 books and monographs and coedited 4 books. He has served on editorial boards of several journals, including Journal of Lie Theory, Semigroup Forum, The American Mathematical Monthly, Applied Categorical Theory and Topology and Its Applications.
This special issue of the Journal of Lie Theory reflects Jimmie Lawson's diverse research interests and his impact on his students, collaborators and mathematics in general. It starts with an article by his long time friend and collaborator, Karl Heinrich Hofmann on his life and work. This article is a reproduction of a previously published article in Semigroup Forum and we thank this journal for the permission to include it in this special issue.
To honor his accomplishments at LSU and his contribution to mathematics and the profession, A. Lisan and G. Olafsson organized a conference at LSU, April 5--7, 2019. This special number of the Journal of Lie Theory contains contributions by some of the speakers of the workshop, including some of Lawson's former students, and these are supplemented by invited contributions of some of his friends and collaborators.