AUSTIN, TexasÑDr. John Tate, a professor of mathematics at The University of Texas at Austin, will be a recipient of the 2002-03 Wolf Prize in Mathematics for his fundamental contributions to algebraic number theory. He will share the $100,000 prize with Dr. Mikio Sato of the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Japan.
Tate, who holds a Sid W. Richardson Chair in Mathematics, will receive the Wolf Prize from the president of Israel, Moshe Katsav, on May 11. The ceremony will be held in Jerusalem in the Chagall Hall of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) Building.
Tate’s work in the development of arithmetic algebraic geometry led to several new concepts. Many bear his name, including the Tate module of abelian variety, the Tate curve, Tate motives and the Tate conjecture, one of the outstanding unsolved problems in the subject.
Tate received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 1946 and his doctor’s degree from Princeton University in 1950, both in mathematics. He was a faculty member at Harvard for more than 30 years and has been a professor at The University of Texas at Austin since 1990. He is a member of many professional organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences, French Academy of Sciences (foreign member) and London Mathematical Society (honorary member).
The Wolf Foundation was established by Dr. Ricardo Wolf, a German inventor and philanthropist. Dr. Wolf was also a Cuban ambassador to Israel. Five Wolf Prizes have been awarded annually since 1978 to a total of 204 scientists and artists from 20 countries. Four scientific awards are presented each year in the following fields on a rotating basis: agriculture, chemistry, mathematics, medicine and physics.
For more information contact: Barbra Rodriguez, College of Natural Sciences, 512-232-0675.
