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Benedict Gross

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Benedict Gross
Gross in Montrouge, France, c. 1977–79
Dean of Harvard College
In office
July 1, 2003 – August 31, 2007
Preceded byHarry R. Lewis
Succeeded by
Personal details
BornBenedict Hyman Gross
(1950-06-22)June 22, 1950
South Orange, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedDecember 19, 2025(2025-12-19) (aged 75)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Spouse
​
(m. 1982)​
Children2
Relatives
Education
Scientific career
Alma mater
Known for
Awards
List of awards
FieldsMathematics
Institutions
ThesisArithmetic on Elliptic Curves with Complex Multiplication (1978)
Doctoral advisorJohn Tate
Doctoral students
List of students

Benedict Hyman Gross[1] (June 22, 1950 – December 19, 2025) was an American mathematician who was a professor at the University of California, San Diego,[2] the George Vasmer Leverett Professor of Mathematics Emeritus at Harvard University, and Dean of Harvard College.[3]

Gross is known for his work in number theory, particularly the Gross–Zagier theorem on L-functions of elliptic curves, and related topics in algebraic geometry, automorphic forms, and representation theory. He received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1986 and a Cole Prize in 1987. He was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the American Philosophical Society, and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Life and career

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Early life and education

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Benedict Hyman Gross was born on June 22, 1950, in South Orange, New Jersey, to Joel and Terry Gross.[1] His father, Joel Gross, was born in Jersey City to Austrian immigrants who had moved to the United States as children.[1] Joel Gross was a lawyer in Newark and was active in Jewish civic and philanthropic organizations.[4] Terry Gross (née Stavisky) was born in New York City to Polish immigrants who had also moved to the United States as teenagers.[1] Benedict Gross had two siblings, Ruth Gross Picker and Avrum Gross.[4] Al Gross was his nephew.[5]

Gross and his family moved to Santa Monica, California, at the age of 5, before returning to New Jersey during second grade.[1] He attended West Orange High School, but transferred out after his freshman year. Gross graduated from The Pingry School, a leading independent school in New Jersey, in 1967 as the valedictorian.[1]

He initially studied physics at Harvard University, deterred from mathematics because he thought that his classmates were better prepared than he was, but switched to mathematics in his sophomore year after enjoying the Math 55 course that was taught by Andrew M. Gleason.[6] In 1971, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University.[6]

Gross studied music in Africa and Asia, and then moved to Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar where he studied history, sociology, and mathematics.[6] He received an M.Sc. from Oxford University in 1974, and then returned to Harvard, where he received his Ph.D. in Mathematics in 1978 under the supervision of John Tate.[3][7]

Career

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Gross was an assistant professor at Princeton University from 1978 to 1982, a maître de conférences at Université de Paris VII in 1980, and an associate professor at Brown University from 1982 to 1985.[3] Gross became a tenured professor at Harvard University in 1985 and became the George Vasmer Leverett Professor at Harvard University in 1988.[3] He served as Dean of Undergraduate Education from 2002 to 2003 and as the Dean of Harvard College from 2003 to 2007.[8] He retired from Harvard University as a professor emeritus and joined the University of California, San Diego, as a professor in 2016.[9][10]

He was the mathematical consultant for the 1980 film It's My Turn containing the scene[11] in which actress Jill Clayburgh, portraying a mathematics professor, impeccably proves the snake lemma.[12][13] Gross was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Advanced Study from 2012 to 2017[14][15] and the executive committee of the International Mathematical Union from 2015 to 2019.[16] He joined the Board of Directors of Scripps Research in 2018.[10]

Research

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Gross's work spanned topics in number theory, algebraic geometry, modular forms, and group representations.[9][17] His work with Don Zagier on the Gross–Zagier formula in 1986 has been influential in modern number theory.[18] It describes the height of Heegner points in terms of a derivative of the L-function of elliptic curves[19] and led to breakthroughs on the class number problem of Carl Friedrich Gauss.[18][17]

Personal life and death

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Gross first met his wife Jill P. Mesirov at a party hosted by Robert Langlands.[1] They married in 1982 and had two sons.[1]

He was diagnosed with testicular cancer when he was an undergraduate at Harvard University, a likely effect of his mother having been prescribed diethylstilbestrol during pregnancy to prevent miscarriage.[1] He received radiation therapy to prevent recurrence and had several major abdominal surgeries to deal with issues caused by this radiation over his lifetime.[1] Gross died on December 19, 2025, at the age of 75, after a long illness.[20][9][18][6]

Awards and honors

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Gross received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1986.[17][9] Gross, Zagier, and Dorian M. Goldfeld won the Cole Prize of the American Mathematical Society in 1987 for their work on the Gross–Zagier formula and the Gauss class number problem.[21][22] In 2012, he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.[23]

He was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992[24] and as a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2004.[25] He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2017.[26]

Major publications

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  • Gross, Benedict H.; Harris, Joe (1981). "Real algebraic curves". Annales scientifiques de l'École normale supérieure. 14 (2): 157–182. doi:10.24033/asens.1401. ISSN 0012-9593.
  • Gross, Benedict H.; Zagier, Don B. (1986). "Heegner points and derivatives of L-series". Inventiones Mathematicae. 84 (2): 225–320. Bibcode:1986InMat..84..225G. doi:10.1007/BF01388809. ISSN 0020-9910.
  • Gross, B.; Kohnen, W.; Zagier, D. (1987). "Heegner points and derivatives of L-series. II". Mathematische Annalen. 278 (1–4): 497–562. doi:10.1007/BF01458081. ISSN 0025-5831.
  • Gross, Benedict H. (1987). "Heights and the special values of L-series". In Kisilevsky, H.; Labute, J. (eds.). Number Theory: Proceedings of the 1985 Montreal Conference Held June 17–29, 1985. Providence, R.I: Published by the American Mathematical Society for the Canadian Mathematical Society. pp. 115–187. ISBN 978-0-8218-6012-0.
  • Gross, Benedict H. (October 1, 1990). "A tameness criterion for Galois representations associated to modular forms (mod p)". Duke Mathematical Journal. 61 (2): 445–517. doi:10.1215/S0012-7094-90-06119-8. ISSN 0012-7094.
  • Gross, Benedict H.; Prasad, Dipendra (October 1, 1992). "On the Decomposition of a Representation of SO n When Restricted to SO n-1". Canadian Journal of Mathematics. 44 (5): 974–1002. doi:10.4153/CJM-1992-060-8. ISSN 0008-414X.
  • Gan, Wee Teck; Gross, Benedict H.; Prasad, Dipendra (2012). "Symplectic local root numbers, central critical L-values, and restriction problems in the representation theory of classical groups". Sur les conjectures de Gross et Prasad. Paris: Societé mathématique de France. pp. 1–109. ISBN 978-2-85629-348-5. OCLC 827954844.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kirby, Rob (2023). "Benedict H. Gross: Becoming a mathematician". Celebratio Mathematica. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  2. ^ "Benedict Gross". University of California, San Diego. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d Curriculum vitae from Gross's web site at Harvard, retrieved April 21, 2010.
  4. ^ a b "Paid Notice: Deaths GROSS, JOEL". New York Times. June 24, 2001. Retrieved February 2, 2026.
  5. ^ Wildstein, David (October 16, 2020). "Surging Alaska U.S. Senate candidate has New Jersey ties". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved February 2, 2026.
  6. ^ a b c d Pattison, Kermit (January 23, 2026). "Dick Gross, number theorist and former College dean, dies at 75". The Harvard Gazette. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  7. ^ Benedict Gross at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  8. ^
  9. ^ a b c d "In Memory of Professor Benedict Gross". Harvard University. January 16, 2026. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  10. ^ a b "Noted mathematician Benedict Gross joins Scripps Research Board of Directors". October 9, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  11. ^ "It's My Turn (1980) Snake Lemma". YouTube. January 12, 2009. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021.
  12. ^ "Benedict Gross – Miscellaneous Crew". IMDb.com.
  13. ^ "Lights, Camera and Algebraic Topology". thecrimson.com. October 23, 2003. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  14. ^ "Benedict H. Gross Appointed to Institute for Advanced Study Board of Trustee". Institute for Advanced Study. June 11, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  15. ^ "Report for the Academic Year 2016–2017" (PDF). Institute for Advanced Study. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  16. ^ "Benedict Gross CV". Celebratio Mathematica. 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  17. ^ a b c "Benedict H. Gross". MacArthur Foundation. January 1, 2005. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
  18. ^ a b c Connolly, Sebastian B.; Rose, Summer E. (January 26, 2026). "Former College Dean Benedict H. Gross Remembered as 'One of the Kindest People in All of Academia'". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  19. ^ Gross, Benedict H.; Zagier, Don B. (1986). "Heegner points and derivatives of L-series". Inventiones Mathematicae. 84 (2): 225–320. Bibcode:1986InMat..84..225G. doi:10.1007/BF01388809. MR 0833192. S2CID 125716869.
  20. ^ "In Memoriam: Benedict Gross". UC San Diego. January 27, 2026. Retrieved January 30, 2026. We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our colleague Benedict ("Dick") Gross on December 19, 2025.
  21. ^ Frank Nelson Cole Prize in Number Theory, AMS, retrieved April 21, 2010.
  22. ^ Gross, Benedict H.; Zagier, Don B. (1986). "Heegner points and derivatives ofL-series". Inventiones Mathematicae. 84 (2): 225–320. Bibcode:1986InMat..84..225G. doi:10.1007/BF01388809. ISSN 0020-9910. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  23. ^ List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society, retrieved January 19, 2013.
  24. ^ List of Active Members by Classes Archived May 6, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, retrieved April 21, 2010.
  25. ^ National Academies news: 72 new members chosen by academy Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, The National Academies, April 2004, retrieved April 21, 2010.
  26. ^ "American Philosophical Society: Newly Elected – April 2017". Archived from the original on September 15, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
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