Pólya Prize (LMS)
Encyclopedia
The Pólya Prize is a prize in mathematics
, awarded by the London Mathematical Society
. Second only to the triennial De Morgan Medal
in prestige among the society's awards, it is awarded in the years that are not divisible by three – those in which the De Morgan Medal is not awarded. First given in 1987, the prize is named after Hungarian mathematician George Pólya
who was a member of the society for over 60 years.
The prize is awarded "in recognition of outstanding creativity in, imaginative exposition of, or distinguished contribution to, mathematics within the United Kingdom
".
It cannot be given to anyone who has previously received the De Morgan Medal
.
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, awarded by 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:* * *...
. Second only to the triennial De Morgan Medal
De Morgan Medal
The De Morgan Medal is a prize for outstanding contribution to mathematics, awarded by the London Mathematical Society. The Society's most prestigious award, it is given in memory of Augustus De Morgan, who was the first President of the society....
in prestige among the society's awards, it is awarded in the years that are not divisible by three – those in which the De Morgan Medal is not awarded. First given in 1987, the prize is named after Hungarian mathematician George Pólya
George Pólya
George Pólya was a Hungarian mathematician. He was a professor of mathematics from 1914 to 1940 at ETH Zürich and from 1940 to 1953 at Stanford University. He made fundamental contributions to combinatorics, number theory, numerical analysis and probability theory...
who was a member of the society for over 60 years.
The prize is awarded "in recognition of outstanding creativity in, imaginative exposition of, or distinguished contribution to, mathematics within the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
".
It cannot be given to anyone who has previously received the De Morgan Medal
De Morgan Medal
The De Morgan Medal is a prize for outstanding contribution to mathematics, awarded by the London Mathematical Society. The Society's most prestigious award, it is given in memory of Augustus De Morgan, who was the first President of the society....
.
List of Pólya Prize Winners
- 1987 John Horton ConwayJohn Horton ConwayJohn Horton Conway is a prolific mathematician active in the theory of finite groups, knot theory, number theory, combinatorial game theory and coding theory...
- 1988 C. T. C. WallC. T. C. WallCharles Terence Clegg Wall is a leading British mathematician, educated at Marlborough and Trinity College, Cambridge. He is an emeritus professor of the University of Liverpool, where he was first appointed Professor in 1965...
- 1990 Graeme B. SegalGraeme SegalGraeme Bryce Segal is a British mathematician, and professor at the University of Oxford.Segal was educated at the University of Sydney, where he received his BSc degree in 1961. He went on to receive his D.Phil...
- 1991 Ian G. MacdonaldIan G. MacdonaldIan Grant Macdonald is a British mathematician known for his contributions to symmetric functions, special functions, Lie algebra theory and other aspects of algebraic combinatorics ....
- 1993 David ReesDavid Rees (mathematician)David Rees ScD Cantab, FIMA, FRS is an emeritus professor of pure mathematics at the University of Exeter, having been head of the Mathematics / Mathematical Sciences Department at Exeter for many years....
- 1994 David WilliamsDavid Williams (mathematician)David Williams is a Welsh mathematician who works in probability theory.He was educated at Gowerton Grammar School, winning a mathematics scholarship to Jesus College, Oxford, and went on to obtain a DPhil under the supervision of D. G. Kendall and G. E. H...
- 1996 David Edmunds
- 1997 John HammersleyJohn HammersleyJohn Michael Hammersley was a British mathematician best known for his foundational work in the theory of self-avoiding walks and percolation theory. He was born in Helensburgh in Dunbartonshire, and educated at Sedbergh School. He started reading mathematics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge but was...
- 1999 Simon DonaldsonSimon DonaldsonSimon Kirwan Donaldson FRS , is an English mathematician known for his work on the topology of smooth four-dimensional manifolds. He is now Royal Society research professor in Pure Mathematics and President of the Institute for Mathematical Science at Imperial College London...
- 2000 Terence Lyons
- 2002 Nigel HitchinNigel HitchinNigel Hitchin is a British mathematician working in the fields of differential geometry, algebraic geometry, and mathematical physics.-Academic career:...
- 2003 Angus MacintyreAngus MacIntyreAngus John Macintyre is a British mathematician known for his contributions to Model theory and logic. He is professor of mathematics at the Queen Mary, University of London....
- 2005 Michael Berry
- 2006 Peter Swinnerton-DyerPeter Swinnerton-DyerSir Henry Peter Francis Swinnerton-Dyer, 16th Baronet KBE FRS , commonly known as Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, is an English mathematician specialising in number theory at University of Cambridge...
- 2008 David PreissDavid PreissDavid Preiss is a professor of mathematics at the University of Warwick and the winner of the 2008 LMS Pólya Prize for his 1987 result on Geometry of Measures, where he solved the remaining problem in the geometric theoretic structure of sets and measures in Euclidean space.David Preiss is...
- 2009 Roger Heath-BrownRoger Heath-BrownDavid Rodney "Roger" Heath-Brown F.R.S. , is a British mathematician working in the field of analytic number theory. He was an undergraduate and graduate student of Trinity College, Cambridge; his research supervisor was Alan Baker...
- 2011 E. Brian Davies
See also
- Whitehead PrizeWhitehead PrizeThe Whitehead Prize is awarded yearly by the London Mathematical Society to a mathematician working in the United Kingdom who is at an early stage of their career. The prize is named in memory of homotopy theory pioneer J. H. C...
- Fröhlich PrizeFröhlich PrizeThe Fröhlich Prize of the London Mathematical Society is awarded in even numbered years in memory of Albrecht Fröhlich. The prize is awarded for original and extremely innovative work in any branch of mathematics...
- Senior Whitehead PrizeSenior Whitehead PrizeThe Senior Whitehead Prize of the London Mathematical Society is currently awarded in odd numbered years in memory of John Henry Constantine Whitehead, president of the LMS between 1953 and 1955. The Prize is awarded to mathematicians normally resident in the United Kingdom on 1 January of the...
- Berwick Prize
- Naylor Prize and LectureshipNaylor Prize and LectureshipThe Naylor Prize and lectureship in Applied Mathematics is a prize of the London Mathematical Society awarded every two years in memory of Dr V.D. Naylor. Only those resident in the United Kingdom are eligible for the prize. The prize is awarded for ".....
- De Morgan MedalDe Morgan MedalThe De Morgan Medal is a prize for outstanding contribution to mathematics, awarded by the London Mathematical Society. The Society's most prestigious award, it is given in memory of Augustus De Morgan, who was the first President of the society....