| 1 | Name: | Dr. Robert MacPherson | |
| Institution: | Institute for Advanced Study | ||
| Year Elected: | 1999 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 104. Mathematics | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1944 | ||
Robert MacPherson has done decisive research on a variety of problems in geometry, especially for manifolds with singularities. Previously mathematicians had understood only smooth varieties. Dr. MacPherson found he needed wholly new methods for treating those with singular points or singular curves. This has included his understanding of Chern classes; his development with Goresky of the "intersection" homology theory; his work with Fulton on coverings; and his introduction of the important concept of Perverse Sheaves. He has been especially effective in collaboration with other mathematicians, and his extraordinary mobilization of the American math community to rescue the poverty-stricken Russian mathematical community is a most admirable humanitarian act that displays his human concerns as well as his great energy and initiative. Dr. MacPherson received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1970, after which time he joined the faculty of Brown University. He moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987 and to the Institute of Advanced Study in 1994. The recipient of the 1992 National Academy of Sciences Award in Mathematics and the 2009 Swiss Federal Institute of Rechnology Heinz Hopf Prize, Dr. Macpherson is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. He was elected to the membership of the American Philosophical Society in 1999. | |||