Wolf Prize in Mathematics
The Wolf Prize in Mathematics is awarded almost annually[a] by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Chemistry, Medicine, Physics and Arts. According to a reputation survey conducted in 2013 and 2014, the Wolf Prize in Mathematics is the third most prestigious international academic award in mathematics, after the Abel Prize and the Fields Medal.[1][2] Until the establishment of the Abel Prize, it was probably the closest equivalent of a "Nobel Prize in Mathematics", since the Fields Medal is awarded every four years only to mathematicians under the age of 40. The Wolf Prize includes a monetary award of $100,000.[1]
Laureates
Year | Name | Nationality | Citation |
---|---|---|---|
1978 | Israel Gelfand | ![]() |
for his work in functional analysis, group representation, and for his seminal contributions to many areas of mathematics and its applications. |
Carl L. Siegel | ![]() |
for his contributions to the theory of numbers, theory of several complex variables, and celestial mechanics. | |
1979 | Jean Leray | ![]() |
for pioneering work on the development and application of topological methods to the study of differential equations. |
André Weil | ![]() |
for his inspired introduction of algebraic-geometric methods to the theory of numbers. | |
1980 | Henri Cartan | ![]() |
for pioneering work in algebraic topology, complex variables, homological algebra and inspired leadership of a generation of mathematicians. |
Andrey Kolmogorov | ![]() |
for deep and original discoveries in Fourier analysis, probability theory, ergodic theory and dynamical systems. | |
1981 | Lars Ahlfors | ![]() |
for seminal discoveries and the creation of powerful new methods in geometric function theory. |
Oscar Zariski | ![]() |
creator of the modern approach to algebraic geometry, by its fusion with commutative algebra. | |
1982 | Hassler Whitney | ![]() |
for his fundamental work in algebraic topology, differential geometry and differential topology. |
Mark Krein | ![]() |
for his fundamental contributions to functional analysis and its applications. | |
1983/84 | Shiing-Shen Chern | ![]() ![]() |
for outstanding contributions to global differential geometry, which have profoundly influenced all mathematics. |
Paul Erdős | ![]() |
for his numerous contributions to number theory, combinatorics, probability, set theory and mathematical analysis, and for personally stimulating mathematicians the world over. | |
1984/85 | Kunihiko Kodaira | ![]() |
for his outstanding contributions to the study of complex manifolds and algebraic varieties. |
Hans Lewy | ![]() |
for initiating many, now classic and essential, developments in partial differential equations. | |
1986 | Samuel Eilenberg | ![]() ![]() |
for his fundamental work in algebraic topology and homological algebra. |
Atle Selberg | ![]() |
for his profound and original work on number theory and on discrete groups and automorphic forms. | |
1987 | Kiyoshi Itō | ![]() |
for his fundamental contributions to pure and applied probability theory, especially the creation of the stochastic differential and integral calculus. |
Peter Lax | ![]() ![]() |
for his outstanding contributions to many areas of analysis and applied mathematics. | |
1988 | Friedrich Hirzebruch | ![]() |
for outstanding work combining topology, algebraic geometry and differential geometry, and algebraic number theory; and for his stimulation of mathematical cooperation and research. |
Lars Hörmander | ![]() |
for fundamental work in modern analysis, in particular, the application of pseudo-differential operators and Fourier integral operators to linear partial differential equations. | |
1989 | Alberto Calderón | ![]() |
for his groundbreaking work on singular integral operators and their application to important problems in partial differential equations. |
John Milnor | ![]() |
for ingenious and highly original discoveries in geometry, which have opened important new vistas in topology from the algebraic, combinatorial, and differentiable viewpoint. | |
1990 | Ennio De Giorgi | ![]() |
for his innovating ideas and fundamental achievements in partial differential equations and calculus of variations. |
Ilya Piatetski-Shapiro | ![]() ![]() |
for his fundamental contributions in the fields of homogeneous complex domains, discrete groups, representation theory and automorphic forms. | |
1991 | No award | ||
1992 | Lennart Carleson | ![]() |
for his fundamental contributions to Fourier analysis, complex analysis, quasi-conformal mappings and dynamical systems. |
John G. Thompson | ![]() |
for his profound contributions to all aspects of finite group theory and connections with other branches of mathematics. | |
1993 | Mikhail Gromov | ![]() ![]() |
for his revolutionary contributions to global Riemannian and symplectic geometry, algebraic topology, geometric group theory and the theory of partial differential equations; |
Jacques Tits | ![]() ![]() |
for his pioneering and fundamental contributions to the theory of the structure of algebraic and other classes of groups and in particular for the theory of buildings. | |
1994/95 | Jürgen Moser | ![]() ![]() |
for his fundamental work on stability in Hamiltonian mechanics and his profound and influential contributions to nonlinear differential equations. |
1995/96 | Robert Langlands | ![]() |
for his path-blazing work and extraordinary insight in the fields of number theory, automorphic forms and group representation. |
Andrew Wiles | ![]() |
for spectacular contributions to number theory and related fields, major advances on fundamental conjectures, and for settling Fermat's Last Theorem. | |
1996/97 | Joseph B. Keller | ![]() |
for his profound and innovative contributions, in particular to electromagnetic, optical, and acoustic wave propagation and to fluid, solid, quantum and statistical mechanics. |
Yakov G. Sinai | ![]() ![]() |
for his fundamental contributions to mathematically rigorous methods in statistical mechanics and the ergodic theory of dynamical systems and their applications in physics. | |
1998 | No award | ||
1999 | László Lovász | ![]() ![]() |
for his outstanding contributions to combinatorics, theoretical computer science and combinatorial optimization. |
Elias M. Stein | ![]() |
for his contributions to classical and Euclidean Fourier analysis and for his exceptional impact on a new generation of analysts through his eloquent teaching and writing. | |
2000 | Raoul Bott | ![]() ![]() |
for his deep discoveries in topology and differential geometry and their applications to Lie groups, differential operators and mathematical physics. |
Jean-Pierre Serre | ![]() |
for his many fundamental contributions to topology, algebraic geometry, algebra, and number theory and for his inspirational lectures and writing. | |
2001 | Vladimir Arnold | ![]() |
for his deep and influential work in a multitude of areas of mathematics, including dynamical systems, differential equations, and singularity theory. |
Saharon Shelah | ![]() |
for his many fundamental contributions to mathematical logic and set theory, and their applications within other parts of mathematics. | |
2002/03 | Mikio Sato | ![]() |
for his creation of algebraic analysis, including hyperfunction theory and microfunction theory, holonomic quantum field theory, and a unified theory of soliton equations. |
John Tate | ![]() |
for his creation of fundamental concepts in algebraic number theory. | |
2004 | No award | ||
2005 | Gregory Margulis | ![]() ![]() |
for his monumental contributions to algebra, in particular to the theory of lattices in semi-simple Lie groups, and striking applications of this to ergodic theory, representation theory, number theory, combinatorics, and measure theory. |
Sergei Novikov | ![]() |
for his fundamental and pioneering contributions to algebraic and differential topology, and to mathematical physics, notably the introduction of algebraic-geometric methods. | |
2006/07 | Stephen Smale | ![]() |
for his groundbreaking contributions that have played a fundamental role in shaping differential topology, dynamical systems, mathematical economics, and other subjects in mathematics. |
Hillel Furstenberg | ![]() ![]() |
for his profound contributions to ergodic theory, probability, topological dynamics, analysis on symmetric spaces and homogeneous flows. | |
2008 | Pierre Deligne | ![]() |
for his work on mixed Hodge theory; the Weil conjectures; the Riemann-Hilbert correspondence; and for his contributions to arithmetic. |
Phillip A. Griffiths | ![]() |
for his work on variations of Hodge structures; the theory of periods of abelian integrals; and for his contributions to complex differential geometry. | |
David B. Mumford | ![]() |
for his work on algebraic surfaces; on geometric invariant theory; and for laying the foundations of the modern algebraic theory of moduli of curves and theta functions. | |
2009 | No award | ||
2010 | Shing-Tung Yau | ![]() |
for his work in geometric analysis that has had a profound and dramatic impact on many areas of geometry and physics. |
Dennis P. Sullivan | ![]() |
for his innovative contributions to algebraic topology and conformal dynamics. | |
2011 | No award | ||
2012 | Michael Aschbacher | ![]() |
for his work on the theory of finite groups. |
Luis Caffarelli | ![]() |
for his work on partial differential equations. | |
2013 | George D. Mostow | ![]() |
for his fundamental and pioneering contribution to geometry and Lie group theory. |
Michael Artin | ![]() |
for his fundamental contributions to algebraic geometry, both in commutative and noncommutative. | |
2014 | Peter Sarnak | ![]() ![]() |
for his deep contributions in analysis, number theory, geometry, and combinatorics. |
2015 | James G. Arthur | ![]() |
for his monumental work on the trace formula and his fundamental contributions to the theory of automorphic representations of reductive groups. |
2016 | No award | ||
2017 | Richard Schoen | ![]() |
for his contributions to geometric analysis and the understanding of the interconnectedness of partial differential equations and differential geometry. |
Charles Fefferman | ![]() |
for his contributions in a number of mathematical areas including complex multivariate analysis, partial differential equations and sub-elliptical problems. | |
2018 | Alexander Beilinson | ![]() ![]() |
for their work that has made significant progress at the interface of geometry and mathematical physics. |
Vladimir Drinfeld | ![]() ![]() | ||
2019 | Jean-Francois Le Gall | ![]() |
for his several deep and elegant contributions to the theory of stochastic processes. |
Gregory Lawler | ![]() |
for his comprehensive and pioneering research on erased loops and random walks.[3] | |
2020 | Simon K. Donaldson | ![]() |
for their contributions to differential geometry and topology.[4] |
Yakov Eliashberg | ![]() | ||
2021 | No award | ||
2022 | George Lusztig | ![]() ![]() |
for his groundbreaking contributions to representation theory and related areas.[5] |
2023 | Ingrid Daubechies | ![]() ![]() |
for her work in wavelet theory and applied harmonic analysis.[6] |
Laureates per country
Below is a chart of all laureates per country (updated to 2023 laureates). Some laureates are counted more than once if they have multiple citizenships.
Country | Number of laureates |
---|---|
![]() |
34 |
![]() ![]() |
10 |
![]() |
7 |
![]() |
4 |
![]() |
3 |
![]() |
3 |
![]() |
3 |
![]() |
2 |
![]() |
2 |
![]() |
2 |
![]() |
2 |
![]() |
2 |
![]() |
2 |
![]() |
1 |
![]() |
1 |
![]() |
1 |
![]() |
1 |
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1 |
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1 |
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1 |
Notes
- ^ The Wolf Foundation website describes the prize as annual; however, some prizes are split across years, while in some years no prize is awarded.
See also
References
- ^ IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence. IREG List of International Academic Awards (PDF). Brussels: IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ Zheng, Juntao; Liu, Niancai (2015). "Mapping of important international academic awards". Scientometrics. 104: 763–791. doi:10.1007/s11192-015-1613-7.
- ^ Wolf Prize 2019 - Mathematics
- ^ Wolf Prize 2020 - Mathematics
- ^ Wolf Prize 2022 - Mathematics
- ^ Wolf Prize 2023 - Mathematics