Todd Drumm
We are sad to note that GEAR member Todd Drumm of Howard University passed away unexpectedly on Friday March 27, 2020. Todd had many collaborators in the network and we will miss him dearly.
Todd was a talented mathematician, who specialized in differential geometry, including complex hyperbolic geometry and the geometry of crooked planes. He received his bachelor’s degree from Westminster College, New Wilmington, Pa., and his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park.
He joined the Howard University faculty in 2008, and was an active and energetic member of the faculty throughout his tenure. An outstanding teacher, Todd mentored undergraduate, and Ph.D. students. He was frequently lauded as a dedicated teacher who genuinely cared for his students and colleagues. He participated in and organized the geometry seminar and the departmental colloquium series, as well as several national and international conferences. Before joining the faculty at Howard, Todd taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore College, Bryn Mawr College, and Yale University.
GEAR member receives 2020 Breakthrough Prize
Alex Eskin, a GEAR member at the University of Chicago node, received one of the 2020 Breakthrough prizes at a ceremony on November 3, 2019 for revolutionary discoveries in the dynamics and geometry of moduli spaces of Abelian differentials, including the proof of the ‘magic wand theorem’ with Maryam Mirzakhani.” His work has fundamentally changed how mathematicians approach counting problems in geometry and algebra. His earlier achievements included the quantitative version of the 1929 Oppenheim conjecture and the quasi-isometry classification of lattices in Lie groups. We join the rest of the mathematics community in congratulating Professor Eskin on his spectacular achievements.
GEAR Advisory Board member receives 2016 Shaw Prize in Mathematics
Nigel Hitchin, Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford University, UK, and a member of the GEAR Network Advisory Board, is the 2016 Shaw Laureate in Mathematical Sciences. Announced on May 31, 2016, the prize was awarded to Professor Hitchin “for his far reaching contributions to geometry, representation theory and theoretical physics. The fundamental and elegant concepts and techniques that he has introduced have had wide impact and are of lasting importance.”
We join the rest of the mathematics community in congratulating Professor Hitchin on his pioneering work and dazzling mathematical creations.
GEAR member receives 2016 Breakthrough Prize
Ian Agol, a GEAR Network member at the UC Berkeley node, is one of the $3M Breakthrough Prize winners for 2016. Announced on November 9, 2015 the prize was awarded to Professor Agol for “spectacular contributions to low dimensional topology and geometric group theory, including work on the solutions of the tameness, virtual Haken and virtual fibering conjectures.” For a lucid explanation of Ian Agol’s work on the virtual Haken conjecture, see the lecture by Nathan Dunfield from the 2012 GEAR Retreat.
We join the rest of the mathematics community in congratulating Professor Agol on his spectacular achievements.
GEAR member receives 2014 Fields Medal
Maryam Mirzakhani, a GEAR member at the Stanford hub of GEAR, is one of the 2014 Fields Medal winners. Announced on August 13, 2014 at the ICM in Seoul, South Korea, the Fields medal was awarded to Professor Mirzakhani for her ground breaking work on geometric and dynamical aspects of moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces.
We join the rest of the mathematics community in congratulatingProfessor Mirzakhani on her inspirational achievements. We note with sadness that Maryam passed away on July 14, 2017.
Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani, a documentary film by George Csicsery, is now available.
Filmed in Canada, Iran, and the United States, “Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani” examines the life and mathematical work of Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian immigrant to the United States who became a superstar in her field. In 2014, she was both the first woman and the first Iranian to be honored by mathematics’ highest prize, the Fields Medal.
Mirzakhani’s contributions are explained in the film by leading mathematicians and illustrated by animated sequences. Her mathematical colleagues from around the world, as well as former teachers, classmates, and students in Iran today, convey the deep impact of her achievements. The path of her education, success on Iran’s Math Olympiad team, and her brilliant work, make Mirzakhani an ideal role model for girls looking toward careers in science and mathematics.
Stanford Press Release of Fields Medal Announcement (8/13/14)
Press Release: A New Mathematics Network (10/4/11)
Math Times article (Fall 2011 issue, page 11)
Math Times article (Fall/Winter 2012 issue, page 9)