David B. Mumford, Fields Medal 1974

David Bryant Mumford (born 11 June 1937) is an American mathematician known for distinguished work in algebraic geometry, and then for research into vision and pattern theory. He won the Fields Medal and was a MacArthur Fellow. In 2010 he was awarded the National Medal of Science. He is currently a University Professor Emeritus in the Division of Applied Mathematics at Brown University.

Early life

Mumford was born in Worth, West Sussex in England, of an English father and American mother. His father William started an experimental school in Tanzania and worked for the then newly created United Nations.

In high school, he was a finalist in the prestigious Westinghouse Science Talent Search. After attending the Phillips Exeter Academy, Mumford went to Harvard, where he became a student of Oscar Zariski. At Harvard, he became a Putnam fellow in 1955 and 1956. He completed his Ph.D. in 1961, with a thesis entitled Existence of the moduli scheme for curves of any genus.

He met his first wife, Erika Jentsch, at Radcliffe College. After Erika died in 1988, he married his second wife, Jenifer Gordon.

He and Erika had four children. Steve (born 1960) is a published artist residing in New York City, Peter (born 1962) is a professional photographer and web developer living in Seattle, Jeremy (born 1969) is a historian, while Suchitra (born 1970, now Suchitra Baranoff) has worked for more than fifteen years in the field of international adoption.

Awards and honours

• Mumford was awarded a Fields Medal in 1974.
• He was a MacArthur Fellow from 1987 to 1992.
• He won the Shaw Prize in 2006.
• In 2007 he was awarded the Steele Prize for Mathematical Exposition by the American Mathematical Society.
• In 2008 he was awarded the Wolf Prize;
• In 2010 he was awarded the National Medal of Science.
• In 2012 he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.

There is a long list of awards and honors besides the above, including

• Westinghouse Science Talent Search finalist, 1953.
• Junior Fellow at Harvard from 1958 to 1961.
• Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1975.
• Honorary Fellow from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1978.
• Honorary D. Sc. from the University of Warwick in 1983.
• Foreign Member of Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome, in 1991.
• Honorary Member of London Mathematical Society in 1995.
• Elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1997.
• Honorary D. Sc. from Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 2000.
• Honorary D. Sc. from Rockefeller University in 2001.
• Longuet-Higgins Prize in 2005 and 2009.
• Foreign Member of The Royal Society in 2008.
• Foreign Member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
• Honorary Doctorate from Brown University in 2011. 2012 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Basic Sciences category (jointly with Ingrid Daubechies).
• Honoris Causa University of Hyderabad, India 2012
• He was elected President of the International Mathematical Union in 1995 and served from 1995 to 1999.