| 1 | Name: | Dr. Karen K. Uhlenbeck | |
| Institution: | University of Texas, Austin | ||
| Year Elected: | 2007 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 104. Mathematics | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1942 | ||
Many objects in mathematics and physics are described by nonlinear partial differential equations. The solutions to these equations often undergo a qualitative change, sometimes called ""bubbling off"" or ""blowing up"". Before Karen Uhlenbeck, no one knew how to treat this phenomenon rigorously. Then, in a series of papers, some of which were joint with Sacks, Uhlenbeck discovered how to predict these qualitative changes from the partial differential equation. In the intervening 25 years, Uhlenbeck's work has had a very large impact in mathematics and mathematical physics. The second woman ever (after Emmy Noether in 1932) to give a plenary address at the International Congress of Mathematicians, Uhlenbeck has done many things to further the education of women in mathematics, including the creation of the Program for Women and Mathematics run by the Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton University. In 2019 she became the first woman awarded the Abel Prize for Mathematics by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Karen Uhlenbeck has been Professor and Sid W. Richardson Foundation Regents Chair in Mathematics at the University of Texas, Austin, where she has taught since 1987. Since 2014 she has been Visitor at the Institute for Advanced Studies. She was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2007. | |||