MEDIA RELEASE — February 14, 2020

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Canadian Mathematical Society

OTTAWA (ON) – The Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) is pleased to announce that Dr. Sujatha Ramdorai (UBC) has been named the recipient of the 2020 Krieger-Nelson Prize for her exceptional contributions to mathematics research. Dr. Ramdorai will receive her award and present a prize lecture during the CMS Summer Meeting in Ottawa, Ontario, June 5-8, 2020.

Dr. Ramdorai (or Sujatha, as she prefers to be known) is a versatile, creative and technically powerful mathematician. She is awarded the Krieger-Nelson Prize for her work that covers a broad range of subjects, including motives, K-theory and arithmetic geometry.

Sujatha first achieved international recognition for her work in the theory of quadratic forms, real algebraic geometry, and motives. In the mid-1990s, Sujatha, in collaboration with John Coates of Cambridge University, moved in an exciting new direction. The starting point was a general result about the Euler characteristics of p-adic Galois representations arising from algebraic varieties over p-adic fields, conjectured earlier by Coates and proved in the case of elliptic curves only, by J.-P. Serre. These results led to a long-ranging line of research responsible for rapid progress in the branch of number theory called Iwasawa theory, culminating in the creation of the new field of non-commutative Iwasawa theory and a precise formulation of the so-called ”Main Conjecture” of Iwasawa Theory. While non-commutative Iwasawa theory has attracted the attention of some of the world’s leading number theorists in recent years, Sujatha remains one of the leading figures and primary movers in this rapidly advancing research area. For this work Sujatha received the 2006 Ramanujan Prize, the world’s most prestigious award for mathematicians working in developing countries. She was elected Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Sciences in 2005. She then served for a few years on the Indian Knowledge Commission, a high-level advisory body to the Prime Minister of India, composed of nine of the country’s top academics, economists and business leaders, whose mandate was to guide policy and direct reforms in the areas of education, science, technology, agriculture, industry, and governance.

About a decade ago, Sujatha joined the Mathematics Department at the University of British Columbia as a Tier I Canada Research Chair. At the UBC, she continued her work on motives, K-theory and Iwasawa theory. In recent years, Sujatha has become a bridge between Canadian and Indian mathematical landscapes and has played an important role in opening up opportunities for junior researchers in both countries.

About the Krieger-Nelson Prize

The Krieger-Nelson Prize, jointly named for Cecilia Krieger and Evelyn Nelson was first awarded in 1995. It was inaugurated to recognize outstanding contributions in the area of mathematical research by a female mathematician.

For information about past recipients visit: https://cms.math.ca/Prizes/info/kn.html