Luis Caffarelli Receives 2009 AMS Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement

January 6, 2009

Providence, RI---Luis Caffarelli of the University of Texas at Austin is receiving the 2009 AMS Leroy P. Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement. Presented annually by the American Mathematical Society, the Steele Prize is one of the highest distinctions in mathematics. The prize will be awarded on Tuesday, January 6, 2009, at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Washington, DC.

"Luis Caffarelli is one of the world's greatest mathematicians studying nonlinear partial differential equations (PDE)," the prize citation states. "This is a difficult field: there are rarely exact formulas for solutions of nonlinear PDEs, and rarely will exact algebraic calculations yield useful expressions. Instead researchers must typically invoke functional analysis to build `generalized' solutions for many important equations. What remains is the profound and profoundly technical problem of proving regularity for these weak solutions and, by universal acclaim, the greatest authority on regularity theory is Luis Caffarelli... [He] has collaborated widely and directed many PhD students. He is extraordinarily generous, in both his personal and professional lives."

The full citation for this prize and additional information can be found in the Prize Booklet. Find out more about AMS prizes at http://www.ams.org/prizes-awards.

Contact:
AMS Public Awareness Office
American Mathematical Society
201 Charles Street
Providence, RI 02904
Email: paoffice at ams dot org
Telephone: 401-455-4000
Fax: 401-331-3842

Founded in 1888 to further mathematical research and scholarship, today the American Mathematical Society has more than 32,000 members. The Society fulfills its mission through programs and services that promote mathematical research and its uses, strengthen mathematical education, and foster awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and to everyday life.