Burt Totaro facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Burt Totaro
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Burt James Totaro
1967 (age 57–58) |
| Alma mater | Princeton University University of California, Berkeley |
| Awards | Whitehead Prize (2000) Prix Franco-Britannique (2001) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of California, Los Angeles University of Cambridge University of Chicago |
| Thesis | K-Theory and Algebraic Cycles (1989) |
| Doctoral advisor | Shoshichi Kobayashi |
Burt James Totaro, born in 1967, is a very smart American mathematician. He is currently a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He studies special areas of math called algebraic geometry and algebraic topology. These fields combine algebra, which uses symbols and equations, with geometry, which studies shapes and spaces.
Early Life and Amazing Education
Burt Totaro was a very gifted student from a young age. He was part of a special program for kids who were really good at math. This program was called the "Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth."
When he was only 12 years old, he took the SAT-I exam. He got a perfect score of 800 on the math part! He also scored 690 on the verbal part.
In 1980, at just 13 years old, he started college at Princeton University. This made him the youngest freshman in Princeton's history. He finished his degree in 1984. After that, he went to graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his Ph.D. (a high-level degree) in 1989.
Career and Research in Mathematics
Since 2009, Burt Totaro has been one of the main editors for a math journal called Compositio Mathematica. He also helps edit other important math journals. In 2012, he became a full professor in the math department at UCLA.
Professor Totaro's work is inspired by a big math problem called the Hodge conjecture. His research connects topology (the study of shapes and spaces) with algebraic geometry. His ideas are used in many different parts of mathematics. These include representation theory, Lie theory, and group cohomology.
Awards and Recognition
In 2000, Burt Totaro was chosen for a special position at the University of Cambridge in England. He became the Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry. In the same year, he won the Whitehead Prize from the London Mathematical Society. This is a major award for mathematicians.
In 2009, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the United Kingdom. In 2019, he was also named a fellow of the American Mathematical Society. This was for his important contributions to algebraic geometry and other math fields. It also recognized his service to the math profession.
