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Vladimir Gershonovich Drinfeld

Mathematician; Harry Pratt Judson Distinguished Service Professor of Mathematics, University of Chicago
University of Chicago · Chicago, Illinois, United States · academic
mathematics.uchicago.edu

Vladimir Gershonovich Drinfeld is a Ukrainian-born American mathematician, one of the most influential figures in modern algebraic geometry, representation theory and mathematical physics. He represented the Soviet Union at the 1969 International Mathematical Olympiad, winning a gold medal (rank 1). A student of Yuri Manin at Moscow State University, he proved the arithmetic Langlands conjecture over a function field in rank two, for which he received the Fields Medal in 1990, and invented quantum groups and Drinfeld modules/shtukas. He is the Harry Pratt Judson Distinguished Service Professor of Mathematics at the University of Chicago.

Born 14 February 1954 in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR. Son of mathematics professor Gershon Ikhelevich Drinfeld and classical philologist Frida Iosifovna Lutskaya-Litvak. Educated at Moscow State University, doctoral advisor Yuri Manin. Worked at the Steklov Mathematical Institute and Kharkiv; emigrated to the US in 1999 and joined the University of Chicago. Fields Medal 1990, Wolf Prize 2018, Shaw Prize 2023.

Details
LocationChicago, Illinois, United States
Company siteuchicago.edu
UniversityMoscow State University
Algebraic geometryRepresentation theoryNumber theoryMathematical physicsGeometric Langlands programalgebraic geometryrepresentation theoryquantum groupsmathematical physics
Notes
  • Awarded the Fields Medal in 1990; the IMU citation (Y.I. Manin) credits his work on the Langlands program and quantum groups as a 'decisive breakthrough'.Aug 1, 1990
  • Shared the 2023 Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences with Shing-Tung Yau for contributions to mathematical physics, arithmetic geometry, differential geometry and Kahler geometry; each prize carries $1.2 million.Jan 22, 2024
  • Represented the USSR at the 1969 IMO and won a gold medal with rank 1 and 40 of 42 points, an early marker of the ability that later produced the Fields Medal.Jul 1, 1969
  • Doctoral advisor was Yuri Manin at Moscow State University; his main specialty is algebraic geometry including applications to arithmetic, automorphic forms, representation theory and mathematical physics.Jan 1, 1970
  • Born into a Jewish mathematical family: father Gershon Ikhelevich Drinfeld was a professor of mathematics at Kharkov University, which shaped his early path into mathematics.Feb 14, 1954

Competition record

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics · IMO

1969 · Gold · Rank 1