Mumford Receives National of Science

Elaine Kehoe

On October 15, 2010, President Barack Obama an- Professor at Brown in 1996. He has nounced the recipients of the National Medal of been a member of the Institute for Science. Among the ten recipients is David Mum- Advanced Study at Princeton and a ford, professor of applied mathematics visiting professor at the University at Brown University. Mumford was honored for of Tokyo, both in 1962–1963. He has “extraordinary contributions to the mathematical, held numerous other visiting posi- engineering and neurobiological sciences.” tions, including at the Tata Institute David Mumford is one of the most influential for Fundamental Research, the Insti- algebraic geometers of the second half of the twen- tut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, tieth century. A student of Oscar Zariski, he was the Institut Henri Poincaré, and the from the beginning of his career well acquainted Mathematical Sciences Research In- with the classical roots of the subject and with stitute in Berkeley. He has also been David Mumford its important problems. Mumford was an early Nuffield Professor at the University of adopter and champion of Alexander Grothendi- Warwick and Rothschild Professor at eck’s approach to algebraic geometry and brought the Isaac Newton Institute of Cambridge Univer- this approach to bear on many long-standing sity. He served as president of the International problems. He made seminal contributions to many Mathematical Union from 1995 to 1998. Mumford different aspects of the subject, such as the theory was awarded the Fields Medal in 1974. He was co- of surfaces and more general questions of clas- winner of the Shaw in Mathematical Sciences sification, the theory of singularities of algebraic in 2006 and of the IEEE Longuet-Higgins Prize for varieties, and moduli problems. Mumford is the fundamental contributions in computer vision in founder of geometric invariant theory, which pro- both 2005 and 2009. He received the AMS Steele vides a framework for treating moduli spaces in Prize in 2007 and the Wolf Foundation Prize in many different contexts. Some years ago he left al- Mathematics in 2008. He was a MacArthur Founda- gebraic geometry to pursue other interests and has tion from 1987 to 1992. He was elected to contributed to such varied fields as brain science, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1975 and computer vision, neurobiology, cognitive science, to the American Philosophical Society in 2000, and and the biology and psychology of perception. he is a foreign member of the Accademia Nazionale Nevertheless, his influence still pervades algebraic dei Lincei, Rome, and the Norwegian Academy of geometry, not just through his theorems but also Science and Letters. through his books and through the activities of the The National Medal of Science is the country’s algebraic geometers he trained as students, many highest distinction for contributions to scientific of whom are now senior figures in the subject. research. According to a news release from the Of- Mumford was born in 1937 in Sussex, England. fice of Science and Technology Policy, “the National He studied mathematics at Harvard University, Medal of Science honors individuals for pioneering receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1957 and his scientific research in a range of fields, including Ph.D. in 1961 under Oscar Zariski. He was a Putnam physical, biological, mathematical, social, behav- Fellow (1955–1956) and a Junior Fellow (1958– ioral, and engineering sciences, that enhances our 1961) while at Harvard. From 1961 to 1996 he held understanding of the world and to innova- various positions at Harvard. He became University tions and technologies that give the United States its global economic edge.” The National Science Elaine Kehoe is contributing writer for the Notices. Her Foundation administers the , which was email address is [email protected]. established by Congress in 1959.

FEBRUARY 2011 NOTICES OF THE AMS 317