Hungarian Wins Top Mathematics Prize

  • 22 Mar 2012 8:06 AM
Hungarian Wins Top Mathematics Prize
"Hungarian mathematician Endre Szemerédi is this year’s winner of the prestigious Abel Prize, it was announced on Wednesday. The award, seen as the Nobel Prize for mathematics, is given by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters to those who achieve outstanding mathematics results, solve basic mathematics problems, work out new techniques and basic tenets and lay the foundations for new areas of research.

Szemerédi, 71, is a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and is also affiliated with Rutgers University in the US.

He said he had not expected to win the award and learned of the decision only hours before it was made public.

He thanked primarily those who had dealt with his branch of mathematics. “This award means a lot for Hungarian mathematics. Winning it means that Hungarian scientific life is still up to world standards,” he said.

Norwegian ambassador Siri Ellen Sletner delivered a speech at the Academy of Sciences, noting that few nations have such a great mathematics tradition as Hungary.

Szemerédi will receive the 6 million Norwegian kroner (Ft 230 million) prize at an awards ceremony in Oslo in May."

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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