Dusa McDuff
Encyclopedia
Dusa McDuff is an English
mathematician
. She was born in London, England as the daughter of the noted biologist
Conrad Hal Waddington
. Her mother, Justin, born Justin Blanco White, was an architect
, while her maternal grandmother was the feminist Amber Reeves
, a lover of H.G. Wells and an author in her own right. McDuff's early education was at Edinburgh
. After graduating from the University of Edinburgh
, she went on to the University of Cambridge
for her PhD in functional analysis, directed by George Reid, and after that taught at the University of York
and the University of Warwick
. She moved to the United States and taught at the State University of New York at Stony Brook
. Since 2007, she has held the Helen Lyttle Kimmel chair at Barnard College
. Her husband is Fields medal
list John Milnor
, a mathematician at Stony Brook University.
McDuff is a Fellow of the Royal Society
(1994), a Noether Lecturer (1998) and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences
(1999). With Dietmar Salamon, she co-authored the standard textbooks Introduction to Symplectic Topology
and J-Holomorphic Curves and Symplectic Topology. In 2010, she was awarded the Senior Berwick Prize of the London Mathematical Society
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
. She was born in London, England as the daughter of the noted biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
Conrad Hal Waddington
Conrad Hal Waddington
Conrad Hal Waddington CBE FRS FRSE was a developmental biologist, paleontologist, geneticist, embryologist and philosopher who laid the foundations for systems biology...
. Her mother, Justin, born Justin Blanco White, was an architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, while her maternal grandmother was the feminist Amber Reeves
Amber Reeves
Amber Blanco White [née Amber Reeves] was a British feminist writer and scholar.-Early life:Reeves was born in Christchurch, New Zealand,the eldest of three children...
, a lover of H.G. Wells and an author in her own right. McDuff's early education was at Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. After graduating from the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, she went on to the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
for her PhD in functional analysis, directed by George Reid, and after that taught at the University of York
University of York
The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...
and the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
. She moved to the United States and taught at the State University of New York at Stony Brook
State University of New York at Stony Brook
The State University of New York at Stony Brook, also known as Stony Brook University, is a public research university located in Stony Brook, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island, about east of Manhattan....
. Since 2007, she has held the Helen Lyttle Kimmel chair at Barnard College
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
. Her husband is Fields medal
Fields Medal
The Fields Medal, officially known as International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics, is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of the International Mathematical Union , a meeting that takes place every four...
list John Milnor
John Milnor
John Willard Milnor is an American mathematician known for his work in differential topology, K-theory and dynamical systems. He won the Fields Medal in 1962, the Wolf Prize in 1989, and the Abel Prize in 2011. Milnor is a distinguished professor at Stony Brook University...
, a mathematician at Stony Brook University.
McDuff is a Fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
(1994), a Noether Lecturer (1998) and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
(1999). With Dietmar Salamon, she co-authored the standard textbooks Introduction to Symplectic Topology
Symplectic topology
Symplectic geometry is a branch of differential geometry and differential topology which studies symplectic manifolds; that is, differentiable manifolds equipped with a closed, nondegenerate 2-form...
and J-Holomorphic Curves and Symplectic Topology. In 2010, she was awarded the Senior Berwick Prize of the London Mathematical Society
London Mathematical Society
-See also:* American Mathematical Society* Edinburgh Mathematical Society* European Mathematical Society* List of Mathematical Societies* Council for the Mathematical Sciences* BCS-FACS Specialist Group-External links:* * *...
.
External links
- "Dusa McDuff", Biographies of Women Mathematicians, Agnes Scott CollegeAgnes Scott CollegeAgnes Scott College is a private undergraduate college in the United States. Agnes Scott's campus lies in downtown Decatur, Georgia, nestled inside the perimeter of the bustling metro-Atlanta area....