The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has awarded the Abel Prize for 2008 to Springer editor and author Jacques Tits of the Collège de France, Paris. Tits shares the prize with John Griggs Thompson of the University of Florida. The two mathematicians have been honored “for their profound achievements in algebra and in particular for shaping modern group theory.” The prize amount is about EUR 750,000 (US$ 1.2 million) and will be presented to Thompson and Tits by HM King Harald on May 20, 2008 in Oslo.
Jacques Tits and John Griggs Thompson were awarded the Abel Prize for their contributions to what is known as group theory or the “science of symmetries.” Thompson revolutionized the theory of finite groups by proving extraordinarily deep theorems that laid the foundation for the complete classification of finite simple groups. Tits created a new and highly influential vision of groups as geometric objects.
The publications of Jacques Tits contain a remarkable number of fundamental and path-breaking mathematical ideas, making him one of today’s most influential and original mathematicians. Jacques Tits’ collaboration with Springer goes back a long way. He is one of the founding editors of the journal Inventiones Mathematicae and for many years was editor of the book series Grundlehren der mathematischen Wissenschaften (A Series of Comprehensive Studies in Mathematics). He is an editor of the book series Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete (A Series of Modern Surveys in Mathematics). In addition, he is the co-author of Moufang Polygons and the author of two volumes in the series Lecture Notes in Mathematics, namely Buildings of Spherical Type and Finite BN-Pairs and Tabellen zu den einfachen Lie Gruppen und ihren Darstellungen. Tits has also published articles in numerous Springer journals including Mathematische Annalen, Publications Mathématiques de L'IHÉS, and Inventiones Mathematicae.
Jacques Tits was born in Uccle, Belgium, on August 12, 1930. He passed the entrance exam at the Free University of Brussels at the age of 14, and received his doctorate in 1950 at 20 years of age. Tits was promoted to professor at the Free University of Brussels in 1962 and remained in this position for two years before accepting a professorship at the University of Bonn in 1964. In 1973 he moved to Paris, taking up a position as Chair of Group Theory in the Collège de France. He retired from his professorship at the Collège de France in Paris in 2000 and has since then been Professor Emeritus.
All previous Abel Prize laureates are Springer editors or authors. Last year, S.R. Srinivasa Varadhan was honored with the award. In 2006 Lennart Carleson won the prestigious prize and in 2005 Peter D. Lax was singled out. Michael Francis Atiyah and Isadore M. Singer were the winners in 2004 and Jean-Pierre Serre was the first to receive the honor in 2003. Springer is the world market leader in the field of mathematics with journals such as Inventiones Mathematicae, Mathematische Annalen, Acta Mathematica, Probability Theory and Related Fields, Japanese Journal of Mathematics, Publications mathématiques de l’IHES and many more.
The Abel Prize, awarded annually by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, was founded in 2003. It recognizes outstanding scientific work in the field of mathematics. The award is in memory of the Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel, who died at the young age of 27. Springer has published a biography of this great mathematical genius in English, German, French and Japanese versions.