Abel Prize 2008 goes to Springer author and editor Jacques Tits

Mathematician honored for achievements in algebra and group theory

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.