| 1 | Name: | Dr. David Mumford | |
| Institution: | Brown University | ||
| Year Elected: | 1997 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 104. Mathematics | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1937 | ||
David Mumford is a mathematician known both for his distinguished work in algebraic geometry and for his research into vision and pattern theory. Currently a professor emeritus in the Division of Applied Mathematics at Brown University, he previously had a long academic career at Harvard University, where he became a full professor of mathematics at Harvard University at the age of 30. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1961. Dr. Mumford's work in geometry always combined the traditional geometric insights with the latest algebraic techniques. He published on moduli spaces, with a theory summed up in his book Geometric Invariant Theory, on the equations defining an abelian variety, and on algebraic surfaces. He essentially founded the subject of the global moduli of algebraic curves, and in 1974, he was awarded the highest distinction in mathematics, the Fields Medal. During the 1980s Dr. Mumford left algebraic geometry in order to study brain structure. He was a MacArthur Fellow from 1987-92, won the Shaw Prize in 2006, and was awarded the 2010 National Medal of Science. His current area of work is pattern theory. | |||