Mathematics People 2004–2005 AMS Centennial Fellowships Awarded The AMS has awarded two Centennial Fellowships for 2004–2005. The recipients are JINHO BAIK of the University of Michigan and NITU KITCHLOO of Johns Hopkins Univer- sity. The amount of each fellowship is $60,000. The Cen- tennial Fellows also receive an expense allowance of $1,700 and a complimentary Society membership for one year. Jinho Baik Jinho Baik received his Ph.D. in 1999 from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, under the direction of Percy Deift. He was a Veblen Jinho Baik Nitu Kitchloo Instructor at Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study during 1999–2002, and an assistant pro- loop groups, and Kac-Moody groups. His current interests fessor at Princeton University during 2002–2003. Since involve studying the topology of symplectomorphism 2002 he has been an assistant professor at the University groups. He is also working on the topology of certain in- of Michigan. finite loop spaces arising from spectra related to complex Baik has been applying methods from integrable sys- cobordism. tems to probability, combinatorics, and statistical physics. Please note: Information about the competition for the In particular, asymptotic problems on random matrices, 2005–2006 AMS Centennial Fellowships will be published random permutations and orthogonal polynomials, and in the “Mathematics Opportunities” section of an upcom- their interrelations have been his main research interest. ing issue of the Notices. He plans to use the fellowship to visit the Courant In- stitute of Mathematical Sciences. —Allyn Jackson Nitu Kitchloo Nitu Kitchloo received his Ph.D. in 1998 from the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology under Haynes Miller. Biran Awarded Oberwolfach From 1998 to 2001 he was an instructor at Northwestern Prize University, and from 2001 to the present he has been an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University. PAUL BIRAN of Tel Aviv University has received the 2003 He plans to use his Centennial Fellowship at the Uni- Oberwolfach Prize for outstanding research in geometry versity of California, San Diego (where he will assume the and topology, particularly symplectic and algebraic geom- position of associate professor in fall 2004), and at Johns etry. The prize will be given on July 2, 2004, during the Hopkins University. 60th anniversary celebration of the Mathematisches Kitchloo’s research is in the fields of geometry, topol- Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach. ogy, and homotopy theory. He uses topological methods Paul Biran has made fundamental and influential con- to study infinite-dimensional objects like loop spaces, tributions to symplectic topology as well as algebraic 660 NOTICES OF THE AMS VOLUME 51, NUMBER 6 Mathematics People geometry. In his thesis he found a remarkable solution to his own efforts, have developed into string theory and a the symplectic packing problem, i.e. the question of what basis for the quantum theory of gravity.” percentage of the volume of a symplectic 4-manifold can The prize carries a cash award of $7,500 and is pre- be filled by a symplectic embedding of n disjoint balls of sented in recognition of outstanding publications in the equal size. For small numbers of balls, obstructions have field of mathematical physics. The prize was established been known since the work of Gromov. Biran proved that in 1959 by the Heineman Foundation for Research, Edu- full packing is possible for every symplectic 4-manifold cational, Charitable, and Scientific Purposes, Inc., and is provided that the number of balls is sufficiently large. His administered jointly by the American Physical Society proof introduces original new techniques in symplectic (APS) and the American Institute of Physics (AIP). The topology: he showed that every symplectic manifold prize is presented annually. (with integral symplectic class) can be decomposed into a 2-disk bundle over a symplectic submanifold and an —From an APS announcement isotropic CW complex (on which the symplectic form vanishes). This structure theorem has many other conse- quences, such as intersection results for Lagrangian Friedman Wins 2004 Parzen submanifolds (the “Lagrangian barrier” phenomenon discovered by Biran) and new obstructions to Lagrangian Prize embeddings. Biran’s work also provides new interconnec- The Emanuel and Carol Parzen Prize for Statistical Inno- tions between symplectic and algebraic geometry: he was vation for 2004 has been awarded to JEROME H. FRIEDMAN of able to use symplectic techniques to obtain new results in Stanford University “for his significant innovations in algebraic geometry, including his contributions to the statistical theory that have transformed practice by the Nagata conjecture, and new obstructions for smooth pro- creation of influential software, that have significantly jective varieties to appear as hyperplane sections of any influenced modern computational statistics, and that have other smooth variety or as sections in a fibration with provided seminal leadership and statistical foundations isolated singularities. In another direction Paul Biran to research in data mining and knowledge discovery, made some important contributions to the theory of machine learning and statistical learning, and nonpara- periodic orbits of Hamiltonian systems as well as to the metric statistical methods.” new theory of Calabi quasimorphisms on the group of The Parzen Prize is awarded in even-numbered years by Hamiltonian symplectomorphisms. His work covers a wide the Department of Statistics at Texas A&M University to range of mathematics and brings together many deep North American statisticians who have made outstanding and powerful techniques in symplectic topology, such as and influential contributions to the development of Floer homology, pseudoholomorphic curves, Donaldson’s applicable and innovative statistical methods. The prize theory of symplectic submanifolds and Lefschetz pencils, consists of a $1,000 honorarium and travel to College and Seiberg-Witten invariants. Station, Texas, to present a lecture at the prize ceremony. The Oberwolfach Prize is awarded by the Gesellschaft für Mathematische Forschung e.V. to European mathe- —Department of Statistics, Texas A&M University maticians not older than thirty-five years. The prize recognizes excellent achievements in a specific field of mathematics, which changes each time the prize is given. The prize carries a monetary award of 5,000 euros Holroyd and Benjamini (approximately US$6,000). Awarded Rollo Davidson Previous recipients of the Oberwolfach Prize are Peter Kronheimer (topology and geometry, 1991), Jörg Brüdern Prizes and Jens Franke (number theory and algebra, 1993), Gero Friesecke and Stefan Sauter (analysis and applied mathe- The trustees of the Rollo Davidson Trust have awarded two matics, 1996), Alice Guionnet (stochastics, 1999), and Luca Rollo Davidson Prizes for 2004. ANDER HOLROYD of the Trevisan (discrete mathematics, 2000). University of British Columbia was honored for his “novel contributions to different areas of probability, including —Elaine Kehoe percolation in its many forms.” ITAI BENJAMINI of the Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel, was honored “for his work across probability, including the analytic and geometric, particularly in the study of random processes Veneziano Awarded 2004 associated with graphs.” Heineman Prize The prize was established to commemorate the life and work of Rollo Davidson and is awarded to young scientists GABRIELE VENEZIANO of CERN (European Organization for of outstanding promise and achievements in probability, Nuclear Research) has been awarded the Dannie Heineman statistics, and related areas. Prize for Mathematical Physics “for his pioneering dis- coveries in dual resonance models which, partly through —From a Rollo Davidson Trust announcement JUNE/JULY 2004 NOTICES OF THE AMS 661 Mathematics People cognitive theory but one allowing us also to understand Brousseau and Hoyles the social interactions between students, teachers, and Receive ICMI Medals knowledge that take place in the classroom and that con- dition what and how students learn. This is the aim of the The International Commission on Mathematical Instruction theory of didactic situations, which has progressively (ICMI), founded in Rome in 1908, has, for the first time in matured, becoming the impressive and complex theory that its history, established prizes recognizing outstanding it is today. To be sure, this was a collective work, but each achievement in mathematics education research. The time there were substantial advances the critical source Felix Klein Medal, named for the first president of ICMI was Guy Brousseau. (1908–1920), honors a lifetime achievement. The Hans Although the research Guy Brousseau has inspired cur- Freudenthal Medal, named for the eighth president of rently embraces the entire range of mathematics education ICMI (1967–1970), recognizes a major cumulative pro- from elementary to postsecondary, his major contributions gram of research. These awards are to be made in each deal with the elementary level, where they cover all mathe- odd-numbered year, with presentation of the medals and matical domains, from numbers and geometry to probabil- invited addresses by the medalists at the following Inter- ity. Their production owes much to the COREM (Center for national Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME). Observation and Research in Mathematics Education), which These awards, which pay tribute to outstanding