Jean Bourgain

All three recipients of the 2026 International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS) Medal in Mathematics have links to the Institute’s School of Mathematics: Claire Voisin, Distinguished Visiting Professor (2014–15); frequent IAS scholar Horng-Tzer Yau; and Shou-Wu Zhang, Member (1991–92). Xiao-Gang Wen, Member (1990–91) and IBM Einstein Fellow (2022–23) in the School of Natural Sciences, was also recognized with a Physics Medal.

Hong Wang, Member (2019–21) in the School of Mathematics, and her colleague Joshua Zahl have proven the three-dimensional Kakeya conjecture, a problem that has, until now, “eluded some of the greatest living mathematicians.” Their work has built on that of other IAS scholars, including Jean Bourgain, Professor (1994–2018) in the School, and Terence Tao, Member (2005, 2023) in the School.

Frequent Visiting Professor Noga Alon has won the 2022 Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences for his contributions to discrete mathematics and theoretical computer science. The prize has been compared to the Nobel and carries with it a monetary award of $1,200,000. 

"Lillian Pierce vividly remembers a moment when she was 4 years old, waiting in her family’s station wagon for her older brother and sister to get out of school, magnolia trees forming pink and white arches overhead. Her mother was sitting in the driver’s seat, writing sequences of numbers in blue ink, balancing her checkbook. Pierce was mesmerized."

"In a paper posted in September, Paul Nelson of the Institute for Advanced Study has solved the subconvexity problem, a kind of lighter-weight version of Riemann’s question. The proof is a significant achievement on its own and teases the possibility that even greater discoveries related to prime numbers may be in store."

Nature's Erica Klarreich remembers Jean Bourgain, IBM von Neumann Professor in the School of Mathematics, who passed away in Bonheiden, Belgium, on December 22, at the age of 64.

"Bourgain lived and breathed mathematics. A night owl who travelled...

The New York Times remembers Jean Bourgain, Professor in the School of Mathematics, who passed away in Bonheiden, Belgium, on December 22, at the age of 64.

"He was a problem solver unequaled," says Peter Sarnak, also a Professor in the School....

Jean Bourgain, IBM von Neumann Professor in the School of Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study, revered for the exceptional range, depth, and power of his mathematical work, passed away in Bonheiden, Belgium, on December 22 at the age of...