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MEDIA RELEASE — March 29, 2016

Canadian Mathematical Society

MEDIA RELEASE
March 29, 2016

Daniel Wise wins the 2016 Jeffery-Williams Prize for a profound impact in mathematical research

Daniel Wise (McGill University)
Photo credit to: Yael Halevi-Wise

OTTAWA — McGill University Professor Daniel T. Wise is the recipient of the 2016 Jeffery-Williams Prize. Wise is widely recognized as one of the top geometric group theorists in the world, and the best of his generation. His work has had a profound impact, not only in the immediate subject of geometric group theory, but also playing a key role in the solution of outstanding open problems in the theory of 3-manifolds.

One of Wise's major achievements is his work on special cube complexes, and quasi-convex hierarchies of hyperbolic groups. His program to study 3-manifolds is described by one reviewer as "revolutionary and remarkable, was not expected by anyone before him, and is clearly the biggest breakthrough in 3-dimensional topology since Perelman’s resolution of the Poincare Conjecture".

The importance and originality of Wise's work have been recognized through several major awards, most notably an invited address at the 2014 International Congress of Mathematicians and the 2013 Veblen Prize of the American Mathematical Society, the most prestigious prize that is awarded in geometry and topology -- Wise is the first Canadian mathematician to have received the Veblen Prize since its inception in 1964. Wise was the recipient of the 2016 CRM-Fields-PIMS Prize, and was selected as Henri Poincare Chair at the Institute Henri Poincare for 2015-2016. In 2014 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Wise received his Ph.D. in 1996 from Princeton University under the supervision of Martin Bridson. He was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at U.C. Berkeley in 1996-1997 and H.C. Wang Assistant Professor at Cornell University from 1997-2000. He was Visiting Assistant Professor at Brandeis University in 2000-2001, before joining the Mathematics Department at McGill University in 2001, where he is currently James McGill Professor.

About the Jeffery-Williams Prize

The Jeffery-Williams Prize was inaugurated to recognize mathematicians who have made outstanding contributions to mathematical research. The first award was presented in 1968 and is named after Ralph Jeffery and Lloyd Williams, who were two influential CMS board members.

For information about past recipients visit: Jeffery-Williams Prize

About the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS)

Founded in 1945, the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) promotes the advancement, discovery, learning and application of mathematics. The CMS promotes mathematics through a rich array of activities including: scientific meetings, publications, awards, prizes, grants, camps and competitions. As the national math association, the CMS represents Canada internationally to other societies as well as organizations such as the International Mathematical Union (IMU).

For more information, please contact:

Therese McCoy
Communications and Special Projects Officer
Canadian Mathematical Society
613-733-2662 ext. 728
commsp@cms.math.ca
or Ailana Fraser (UBC Vancouver)
Chair, CMS Research Committee
chair-resc@cms.math.ca