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Mathematics People

International Congress of Basic Science Honors Wiles, Hamilton, and Research

The 2024 Basic Science Lifetime Award in mathematics was awarded to Andrew Wiles “for his groundbreaking contributions to number theory” and to Richard Hamilton “for his invention and development of the Ricci flow as a basic tool in topology and differential geometry leading to the solution of the Poincaré conjecture and the differentiable sphere theorem,” according to the International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS).

“The Basic Science Lifetime Awards are awarded to extraordinary scientists whose work in basic science has been both outstanding and innovative and have, over the course of the past thirty years or more, brought about fundamental change in his or her discipline,” according to ICBS.

The awards were presented at the 2024 ICBS, held in July in Beijing.

The Congress also honored research, with an emphasis on “achievements from the past 10 years which are both excellent and of outstanding scholarly value.” For 2024, scientific works in both basic and applied research were chosen in 42 areas of the three basic science fields represented at the ICBS (mathematics, theoretical physics, and theoretical computer and information sciences).

For a full list of those honored, see https://www.icbs.cn/.

AMS Communications

Balibanu, Bischoff Awarded 2024 Lichnerowicz Prize

The André Lichnerowicz Prize in Poisson Geometry is awarded for notable contributions to Poisson geometry every two years at the International Conference on Poisson Geometry to researchers who completed their doctorates at most eight years before the year of the conference.

Ana Balibanu was awarded the 2024 Lichnerowicz Prize for her contributions to the study of the profound connections between algebraic groups and Poisson geometry. She received her PhD in 2017 from the University of Chicago.

Francis Bischoff was awarded the 2024 Lichnerowicz Prize for his work at the intersection of complex algebraic geometry, Poisson geometry, and mathematical physics. He received his PhD in 2019 from the University of Toronto.

Established in 2008, the prize is named in memory of André Lichnerowicz (1915–1998), whose work was fundamental in establishing Poisson geometry as a branch of mathematics. It is awarded by a jury composed of the members of the scientific/advisory committee of the conference. The 2024 Lichnerowicz prize was funded by the scientific committee.

Poisson 2024

Schafhauser Wins 2024 Zemánek Prize

The Jaroslav and Barbara Zemánek Prize in functional analysis with emphasis on operator theory for 2024 was awarded to Christopher Schafhauser (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) for his outstanding contributions to the classification and structure theory of C*-algebras, particularly to the Elliott classification program. The jury emphasized his outstanding results on AF-embeddability of the UCT C*-algebras, as well as his original and innovative approach the classification of simple nuclear C*-algebras, which led to breakthroughs in the field.

The Zemánek Prize was founded by the Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IM PAN) in March 2018, to encourage research in functional analysis, operator theory, and related topics. The annual prize was established to promote young mathematicians, under 35 years of age, who make important contributions to the field. The awarding ceremony will take place at IM PAN, Warsaw, in fall 2024.

Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences

AWM Announces 2024 Student Chapter Award Winners

The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) recognized its 2024 Student Chapter Award winners on August 8 at MAA MathFest 2024 in Indianapolis.

Winners were the University of Mississippi for community outreach; Colorado School of Mines for fundraising and/or sustainability; Purdue University for professional development; and the University of Alberta for scientific excellence.

Awarded annually, AWM’s Student Chapter Awards are made possible by the generous donations of former AWM Executive Director Magnhild Lien and first were awarded in 2017.

Association for Women in Mathematics