The Irving Reiner Memorial Award was established in memory of Professor Irving Reiner by his family in 1988, with the support also of colleagues and friends. Professor Reiner, a long-time member of the University of Illinois Department of Mathematics, was a leader in the field of integral representation theory. The Reiner Prize is awarded each spring to one or more graduate students in recognition of outstanding scholastic achievement in the field of algebra.

Professor Reiner received his Master's and Ph.D. from Cornell University. After Cornell, he spent a year at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, where he met and worked with Professor L.K. Hua.

He joined the University of Illinois Department of Mathematics faculty in 1948. During his 38 years at Illinois, he wrote 107 research papers, survey papers, books, and other scholarly works, with many collaborators. He directed the thesis work for 17 students. His classic and influential book on representation theory, written with Professor Charles W. Curtis, was published in 1962. During his career, he received many awards for his outstanding work, among these a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Brooklyn College, and a NATO Senior Fellowship. When Professor Reiner died at age 62, a colleague wrote, "We have been enriched by knowing him."