Peter Sarnak
Encyclopedia
Peter Clive Sarnak is a South Africa
n-born mathematician
. He has been Eugene Higgins Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University
since 2002, succeeding Andrew Wiles
, and is an editor of the Annals of Mathematics
. Sarnak is also on the permanent faculty at the School of Mathematics of the Institute for Advanced Study
.
(B.Sc.
1975) and Stanford University
(Ph.D.
1980), under the direction of Paul Cohen
.
of Society of Industrial & Applied Mathematics in 1998, the Ostrowski Prize
in 2001, the Levi L. Conant Prize in 2003 and the Frank Nelson Cole Prize in Number Theory in 2005. He was also elected as member of the National Academy of Sciences
(USA) and Fellow of the Royal Society (UK) in 2002. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
in 2010.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n-born mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
. He has been Eugene Higgins Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
since 2002, succeeding Andrew Wiles
Andrew Wiles
Sir Andrew John Wiles KBE FRS is a British mathematician and a Royal Society Research Professor at Oxford University, specializing in number theory...
, and is an editor of the Annals of Mathematics
Annals of Mathematics
The Annals of Mathematics is a bimonthly mathematical journal published by Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study. It ranks amongst the most prestigious mathematics journals in the world by criteria such as impact factor.-History:The journal began as The Analyst in 1874 and was...
. Sarnak is also on the permanent faculty at the School of Mathematics of the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
.
Education
Sarnak graduated University of the WitwatersrandUniversity of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...
(B.Sc.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
1975) and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
(Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
1980), under the direction of Paul Cohen
Paul Cohen (mathematician)
Paul Joseph Cohen was an American mathematician best known for his proof of the independence of the continuum hypothesis and the axiom of choice from Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory, the most widely accepted axiomatization of set theory.-Early years:Cohen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, into a...
.
Career
- Assistant Professor, 1980–83; Associate Professor, 1983; Professor, 2001–2005, Courant Institute, New York UniversityNew York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
- Associate Professor, 1984–87; Professor, 1987–91, Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
- Professor, 1991–; H. Fine Professor, 1995–96; Chairman, Dept of Mathematics, 1996–99; Eugene Higgins Professor, 2002–, Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
- Member, 1999–2002 and 2005–2007; Faculty, 2007–, Institute for Advanced StudyInstitute for Advanced StudyThe Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
Awards and honors
Sarnak was awarded the Polya PrizePólya Prize (SIAM)
The Pólya Prize is a prize in mathematics, awarded by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. First given in 1969, the prize is named after Hungarian mathematician George Pólya...
of Society of Industrial & Applied Mathematics in 1998, the Ostrowski Prize
Ostrowski Prize
The Ostrowski Prize is a mathematics award given every other year by an international jury from the universities of Basel, Jerusalem, Waterloo and the academies of Denmark and the Netherlands...
in 2001, the Levi L. Conant Prize in 2003 and the Frank Nelson Cole Prize in Number Theory in 2005. He was also elected as member of the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
(USA) and Fellow of the Royal Society (UK) in 2002. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
in 2010.
Publications
- Some Applications of Modular Forms, 1990
- (joint editor) Extremal Riemann Surfaces, 1997
- (joint author) Random Matrices, Frobenius Eigenvalues and Monodromy, 1998
- (joint editor) Selected Works of Ilya Piatetski-Shapiro (Collected Works), 2000
- (joint author) Elementary Number Theory, Group Theory and Ramanujan Graphs, 2003
- (joint editor) Selected Papers Volume I-Peter Lax, 2005
- (joint editor) Automorphic Forms and Applications, 2007