Shmuel Friedland was born in Uzbekistan, then part of the USSR, September 27, 1944. He emigrated to Israel in November 1957. He got his higher education at Technion, Israel. He started in the program in mathematics and physics, 1963–1965, and then continued in Mathematics in 1965–1967, obtaining his B.Sc. in Mathematics, cum laude. His studies were combined with the compulsorymilitary service in Israel, named the atudaprogram, which is similar to the American ROTC program. He participated in the six day war as an officer. He did his military service from 1967 to 1971 as a scientist in the Defence Ministry, and worked in Rafael on mathematical aspects of weapons development. During his service he was allowed to continue his mathematical graduate studies. He got his M.Sc. in 1969, and his Ph.D. in 1971. After completing his military services he was appointed as a lecturer in Technion, in Spring 1971. In the AY 1972–1973 he was a senior scientist in the Weizmann Institute. In 1973–1974 he was a Visiting Assistant Professor in Stanford University, and in 1974–1975 he was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. In 1975 he got a tenure track position as a Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Mathematics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1978, and to Professor in 1982. Since Fall 1985 he is Professor in University of Illinois at Chicago. He was a visitor in University of Madison, Wisconsin; Northwestern University, Evanston; Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, Bur-sur-Yvette; Technion, Haifa; Berlin Mathematical School, Berlin