Originally from Nova Friburgo in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Professor Rafael Iório got the undergraduate degree in Physics and Master degree in Mathematics from PUC-RJ, as well as a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was advised by Tosio Kato. He was professor at PUC-RJ from 1970 to 1981, after which he joined IMPA, where he remained until 2023. Additionally, he was a visiting professor at various international and national universities, including the University of California, Berkeley, UnB, and Unicamp. His areas of interest included Scattering Theory in Quantum Mechanics, Parabolic Regularization, Nonlinear Dispersive Equations, the Benjamin-Ono Equation, Cauchy problems, and weighted Sobolev spaces.

Professor Iório supervised 14 doctoral students, authored 4 books, and published 21 scientific articles. The book "Partial Differential Equations" is one of the most significant in the field, co-authored with his wife, mathematician Valéria de Magalhães Iório, and released in both Portuguese and English languages.

Professor Iório was indeed a pioneer in nonlinear partial differential equations in Brazil. In addition to his own high-level mathematical contributions, he played a prominent role in training researchers. His article "On The Cauchy Problem For The Benjamin-Ono Equation" is one of Iório's most well-known scientific contributions and holds great importance in the development of the field of nonlinear dispersive equations. It is not overstated to say that Iório has left a legacy in the area of partial differential equations, which continues to be studied by researchers worldwide.