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International Congress of Mathematicians 2010 Preview of Invited Talks |
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ICM 2010 will showcase a spectacular spate of invited talks for department faculty. Applied mathematician Stanley Osher leads the way with an invitation to give a plenary address which will be on new algorithms in information science. Fellow UCLA Math colleagues Paul Balmer, Chandrashekhar Khare, Dimitri Shlyakhtenko, and Benjamin Sudakov are invited lecturers in algebra, number theory, functional analysis, and combinatorics, respectively. UCLA Math alum and IPAM science advisory board chair Peter W. Jones will also give a plenary address. The congress will be held in Hyderabad, India, August 19 – 27, 2010. |
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In memoriam: Leo Sario, Professor of Mathematics, Emeritus, 1916 – 2009 |
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Professor Emeritus Leo Sario died of a heart attack at his Santa Monica home on August 15, 2009. He was 93. In Finland during World War II, Sario was recognized as an excellent teacher and officer who made key contributions to the defense of the country, all while diligently pursuing his mathematical studies. After the war, Sario received his PhD under Rolf Nevanlinna and helped to establish the National Academy of Finland. Moving to the U.S. in the 1950s, he worked at Princeton, MIT, Stanford and finally UCLA, from which he retired in 1986. Sario created the theory of principle functions and wrote five major books including Riemann Surfaces with Lars Ahlfors, Classification Theory of Riemann Surfaces with M. Nakai, and Principle Functions with Burton Rodin. He also published over 130 research papers and mentored 36 doctoral students. To read a full account of Leo Sario’s life and accomplishments and a tribute by Burt Rodin, click here. |
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UCLA Math Student-Athlete Alterraun Verner Tackles Football and Proofs |
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Watch Bruin senior star cornerback and mathematics-applied science major Alterraun Verner talk about the rewards of tackling quarterbacks on the field and math proofs off the field in My Big UCLA Moment. Verner was named to the pre-season “Watch List” for the Lott Trophy and is a two-time Pac-10 All-Academic team player. |
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Sorin Popa Accepts UCLA Mathematics Department Chairmanship |
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Effective July 1, 2009, Professor Sorin Popa assumes the position of chair of the UCLA Department of Mathematics. A professor at UCLA since 1987, Popa is a world-leading researcher in the areas of functional analysis, operator algebras, subfactor theory, and ergodic theory. His honors include a Guggenheim fellowship in 1995 and two invited addresses at the International Congress of Mathematicians, most recently in 2006 as plenary speaker. He has frequently held visiting positions in France, and from 1996 - 1998 was professor at the University of Geneva. Acting Dean Joseph Rudnick of the Division of Physical Sciences is enthusiastic about Popa's appointment and praises outgoing chair Professor Christoph Thiele for the impressive strides the department has made during his three year tenure, expressing his belief that Thiele will be “remembered as one of the great chairs of your department, indeed the campus.” Congratulations to Professor Thiele for his extraordinary service and best of luck to Professor Popa in his new role. |
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NSF Awards Major Training Grants to UCLA Math |
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Effective July 1, 2009, the UCLA Department of Mathematics will be awarded two major Research Training Groups (RTG) grants from the National Science Foundation, one in algebra/number theory and the other in analysis. The RTG grants are part of the NSF initiative to enhance the mathematical sciences workforce in the 21st century and will fund numerous departmental programs, as well as provide support for graduate students, undergraduates and postdocs. |
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UCLA Math Prof Joseph Teran Talks Virtual Surgery on YouTube |
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UCLA Math PhD Awarded Clay Liftoff Fellowship |
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The Clay Mathematics Institute has named UCLA Mathematics PhD Victor Lie as a 2009 Clay Liftoff fellow. Lie will complete his thesis "Relational time-frequency analysis" under Professor Christoph Thiele in June and is widely known in the field for his paper "The (weak-L2) Boundedness of the Quadratic Carleson Operator." Lie will use the Liftoff award this summer at the University of Chicago then assume a three-year Veblen Research Instructorship, which is a joint position at Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study. The Clay Liftoff Fellowships are awarded to young mathematicians who have demonstrated mathematical research of quality and significance, and who show the potential to be leaders in their field. |
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NSF Awards Postdoctoral Fellowships to UCLA Math PhDs |
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UCLA Mathematics PhDs Mark Blunk and Michael Vanvalkenburgh have been named recipients of the National Science Foundation 2009 Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (MSPRF). Blunk will receive his PhD in June under the supervision of Professor Alexander Merkurjev and will conduct his fellowship at the University of British Columbia. Vanvalkenburgh will conduct his research at the University of California, Berkeley and will receive his PhD this June under the supervision of Professor Michael Hitrik. |
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Curtis Center for Mathematics and Teaching Hosts Julia Robinson Math Festival |
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On April 23, UCLA Mathematics' Philip C. Curtis Jr. Center for Mathematics and Teaching, and the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM) hosted 270 Los Angeles-area middle and high students for the first Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival held in Southern California. UCLA math faculty, graduate students, IPAM visiting researchers, high school instructors and local puzzle masters guided students as they tested their skills and learned new math topics through activity stations. The event also featured a talk by UCLA mathematics professor Joseph Teran, who discussed the role of math in creating visual effects for movies, video games and virtual surgery simulations. UCLA math alumna Peggy Otsubo represented the event's corporate sponsor and spoke to students on how mathematics is used at Northrop Grumman. Major funding was also provided by Nancy and Nelson Blachman through the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute at Berkeley.
For more festival information, visit http://www.curtiscenter.math.ucla.edu/k12.html
and see it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8TCtoGQII8. |
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UCLA Math Professors Elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences |
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On April 20, UCLA Mathematics Professors Stanley Osher and Terence Tao joined 210 distinguished scholars, scientists, writers, artists, and corporate and philanthropic leaders who were elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in recognition of preeminent contributions to their disciplines and to society at large. Six UCLA professors were named new fellows this year. An independent policy research center, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences undertakes studies of complex and emerging problems. Current academy research focuses on science and global security, social policy, the humanities and culture, and education. For a complete list of 2009 fellows, visit http://www.amacad.org/enewsletter/a.pdf. |
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Tony Chan Appointed President of University in Hong Kong |
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Tony Chan has been appointed the next president of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology for a five-year term, effective September 1. A UCLA professor of mathematics since 1986, Chan was dean of the Division of Physical Sciences from 2001 to 2006 in the College of Letters and Science. In October 2006, Chan took a temporary leave from his faculty position at UCLA to become the NSF assistant director in charge of its Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate to guide and manage research funding totaling approximately $1 billion a year to support astronomy, physics, chemistry, mathematics, materials science and multidisciplinary activities. |
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Professor Andrea Bertozzi to be 2009 Sonia Kovalevsky Lecturer |
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The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) has invited UCLA Mathematics Professor Andrea Bertozzi to give the annual Sonia Kovalevsky Lecture in July at the 2009 SIAM annual meeting. Established in 2003, the lectures honor women who have made fundamental and sustained contributions to applied or computational mathematics. Bertozzi works in a wide range of areas in applied mathematics including nonlinear partial differential equations, thin films, image processing, swarming and crime modeling. SIAM has also invited UCLA Mathematics Professor Russel Caflisch to be a topical speaker at the annual meeting. For more information, visit http://www.siam.org/meetings/an09/invited.php. |
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