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Unité de Recherche sur l’Enseignement des Mathématiques

« Jean Bourgain to Receive 2018 Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement
Thursday November 9th 2017

Jean Bourgain, IBM von Neumann Professor in the School of Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study, will receive the 2018 Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement for the breadth of his contributions made in the advancement of mathematics. (Photo : Cliff Moore, Institute for Advanced Study.)

Born in Belgium, Jean Bourgain joined the Institute for Advanced Study in 1994 as part of its School of Mathematics. He is a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences and a recipient of numerous prizes and awards including the Ostrowski Prize (1991), Fields Medal (1994), Shaw Prize (2010), Crafoord Prize (2012), and the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics (2017).

He is a giant in the field of mathematical analysis, which he has applied broadly and to great effect. In many instances, he provided foundations for entirely new areas of study and in other instances he gave mathematics new tools and techniques. He has solved long-standing problems in Banach space theory, harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, and Hamiltonian dynamics. Bourgain’s work has had important consequences in probability theory, ergodic theory, combinatorics, number theory, computer science, and theoretical physics. His vision, technical power, and broad accomplishments are astounding.

Jean Bourgain wrote : I am deeply honored and grateful to receive the 2018 Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement. Over the years, I have been fortunate to meet and interact with some remarkable individuals, with different interests and styles, from whom I learned a lot. They played a decisive role in introducing me to new subjects and encouraging my research. A large part of my work is also the result of fruitful collaborations with both junior and senior researchers, sometimes over an extended period of time. I am most grateful to them.

At the present time mathematics is an extremely active science and its future bodes well for its constant progress both for solving old problems and opening new areas of research.

About the Prize
Presented annually, the AMS Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement is one of the highest distinctions in mathematics, and is awarded for the cumulative influence of the total mathematical work of the recipient, high level of research over a period of time, particular influence on the development of a field, and influence on mathematics through PhD students. The prize will be awarded Thursday, January 11, 2018, at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Diego. »

Source : http://www.ams.org/news?news_id=3801