David Mumford facts for kids

Quick facts for kids David Mumford
David Mumford in 2010
Born	(1937-06-11) 11 June 1937 (age 88) Worth, West Sussex, England
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Harvard University
Known for	Algebraic geometry Mumford surface Deligne-Mumford stacks Mumford–Shah functional
Awards	Putnam Fellow (1955, 1956) Sloan Fellowship (1962) Fields Medal (1974) MacArthur Fellowship (1987) Shaw Prize (2006) Steele Prize (2007) Wolf Prize (2008) Longuet-Higgins Prize (2005, 2009) National Medal of Science (2010) BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2012)
Honours	Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Honoris Causa)
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematics
Institutions	Brown University Harvard University
Thesis	Existence of the moduli scheme for curves of any genus (1961)
Doctoral advisor	Oscar Zariski
Doctoral students	Avner Ash Henri Gillet Tadao Oda Emma Previato Malka Schaps Michael Stillman Jonathan Wahl Song-Chun Zhu

David Bryant Mumford (born 11 June 1937) is an American mathematician. He is famous for his work in algebraic geometry. This is a field of mathematics that uses algebra to study geometric shapes. Later, he also did research in computer vision and pattern theory.

He won the important Fields Medal in mathematics. He was also a MacArthur Fellow, which is a special award for talented people. In 2010, he received the National Medal of Science. This is one of the highest science awards in the United States. He is now a retired professor at Brown University.

Early Life and Education

David Mumford was born on June 11, 1937. His birthplace was Worth, West Sussex in England. His father was English, and his mother was American. His father, William, started a special school in Tanzania. He also worked for the United Nations.

David went to Phillips Exeter Academy for high school. There, he won a prize for a computer project he built. After that, he studied at Harvard University. He was a student of a famous mathematician named Oscar Zariski. While at Harvard, he won the Putnam Fellow award twice. He earned his PhD degree in 1961. His main project was about understanding complex shapes in mathematics.

In 1959, he married Erika Mumford. She was an author and a poet. They had four children together. David Mumford now has seven grandchildren.

Work in Mathematics

David Mumford's work in algebraic geometry was very important. He combined old ideas about geometry with new ways of using algebra. He wrote books and papers on many topics. These included moduli spaces, which are like maps for different shapes. He also studied abelian varieties and algebraic surfaces.

His books helped bring together older and newer math ideas. For example, his book The Red Book of Varieties and Schemes became a key guide for students. He also helped bring back the study of theta functions. These are special mathematical functions. He showed how they could be used with modern algebra.

Mumford also helped create the theory of toroidal embeddings. This is a way to study shapes using special algebraic tools. He encouraged his students to use computers to solve problems in algebra.

Awards and Honors

David Mumford in 1975

David Mumford has received many important awards. In 1974, he won the Fields Medal. This is one of the highest honors a mathematician can get. From 1987 to 1992, he was a MacArthur Fellow. This award is sometimes called a "genius grant."

In 2006, he won the Shaw Prize. In 2007, he received the Steele Prize for his clear math explanations. He was awarded the Wolf Prize in 2008. When he received this prize, he shared half of the money. He gave it to Birzeit University in the Palestinian territories. He gave the other half to Gisha, an Israeli group that helps Palestinians move freely.

In 2010, he received the National Medal of Science. This is a very high honor in the United States. In 2012, he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.

Other honors include:

• Being a finalist in the Intel Science Talent Search in 1953.
• Being a Junior Fellow at Harvard from 1958 to 1961.
• Being chosen for the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1975.
• Receiving honorary degrees from many universities. These include the University of Warwick and Rockefeller University.
• Winning the Longuet-Higgins Prize in 2005 and 2009.
• Becoming a Foreign Member of The Royal Society in 2008.
• Receiving the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in 2012.

He was also the President of the International Mathematical Union. He served in this role from 1995 to 1999.

See also