Richard P. Stanley
Encyclopedia
Norman Levinson
Norman Levinson was an American mathematician. Some of his major contributions were in the study of Fourier transforms, complex analysis, non-linear differential equations, number theory, and signal processing. He worked closely with Norbert Wiener in his early career...
Professor of Applied Mathematics
Applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with mathematical methods that are typically used in science, engineering, business, and industry. Thus, "applied mathematics" is a mathematical science with specialized knowledge...
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. He received his Ph.D. at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1971 under the supervision of Gian-Carlo Rota
Gian-Carlo Rota
Gian-Carlo Rota was an Italian-born American mathematician and philosopher.-Life:Rota was born in Vigevano, Italy...
. He is universally recognized as a leading expert in the field of combinatorics
Combinatorics
Combinatorics is a branch of mathematics concerning the study of finite or countable discrete structures. Aspects of combinatorics include counting the structures of a given kind and size , deciding when certain criteria can be met, and constructing and analyzing objects meeting the criteria ,...
and its applications to a variety of other mathematical disciplines. He is well known for his two-volume book Enumerative Combinatorics (1986–1999), a far-reaching and authoritative treatise
Treatise
A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject.-Noteworthy treatises:...
on enumerative methods that is widely regarded for its elegant exposition, usefulness as a reference, and creative exercises. (Perhaps the most famous exercise is in volume 2, where readers are asked to prove that 66 different definitions of the Catalan numbers are equivalent.) He is also the author of Combinatorics and Commutative Algebra (1983) and well over 100 research articles in mathematics. He has served as thesis advisor to more than 45 doctoral students, many of whom have had distinguished careers in combinatorial research. Among Stanley's many distinctions are membership in 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...
(elected in 1995), the 2001 Leroy P. Steele Prize for mathematical exposition, the 2003 Schock Prize
Schock prize
The Rolf Schock Prizes were established and endowed by bequest of philosopher and artist Rolf Schock . The prizes were first awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1993 and have been awarded every two years since...
, and a plenary lecture at the 2006 meeting of the ICM
International Congress of Mathematicians
The International Congress of Mathematicians is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union ....
(in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
).
See also
- Stanley's reciprocity theoremStanley's reciprocity theoremIn combinatorial mathematics, Stanley's reciprocity theorem, named after MIT mathematician Richard P. Stanley, states that a certain functional equation is satisfied by the generating function of any rational cone and the generating function of the cone's interior.A rational cone is the set of all...
- Exponential formulaExponential formulaIn combinatorial mathematics, the exponential formula states that the exponential generating function for structures on finite sets is the exponential of the exponential generating function for connected structures.The exponential formula is a power-series version of a special case of Faà di...
- MIT Mathematics DepartmentMIT Mathematics DepartmentThe Department of Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the leading mathematics departments in the USAand the world...