Chris Schommer-Pries

Chris Schommer-Pries
Name	Chris Schommer-Pries
Birth place	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nationality	American
Fields	Mathematics, Topology, Category Theory
Workplaces	University of Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins University, University of Southern California
Alma mater	Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley
Doctoral advisor	Jacob Lurie
Known for	Work on topological field theories, higher categories, cobordism hypotheses

Chris Schommer-Pries is an American mathematician known for contributions to algebraic topology, higher category theory, and mathematical aspects of quantum field theory. His work bridges research traditions represented by institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley, collaborating with figures associated with Princeton University, Harvard University, and the Institute for Advanced Study. He has held faculty appointments at research universities and contributed to programs at centers including the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, the American Mathematical Society, and the Simons Foundation.

Early life and education

Schommer-Pries was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and completed undergraduate studies with a strong emphasis on mathematics at regional institutions before pursuing graduate work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He undertook doctoral studies under the supervision of Jacob Lurie at the University of California, Berkeley, engaging with research communities connected to the Clay Mathematics Institute, the Institute for Advanced Study, and the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics. During his education he interacted with scholars from the University of Chicago, Columbia University, Stanford University, and international centers such as the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques and Max Planck Institute for Mathematics.

Academic career

Schommer-Pries has held faculty positions and visiting appointments across multiple universities and research institutes. He served on the faculty at the University of Notre Dame and held visiting roles at institutions including Johns Hopkins University and the University of Southern California. His academic trajectory includes engagement with departmental programs at the University of California, Berkeley, collaborations with researchers at the Perimeter Institute, and participation in workshops organized by the Banff International Research Station and the Erwin Schrödinger International Institute for Mathematics and Physics. He has presented plenary and invited talks at gatherings of the American Mathematical Society, the European Mathematical Society, and the International Congress of Mathematicians community.

Research and contributions

Schommer-Pries's research centers on the interplay between topological quantum field theory, cobordism hypothesis, and the structure of higher categories such as ((∞,n))-categories. He developed formalizations that connect ideas from Atiyah–Segal axioms style descriptions of field theories to categorical frameworks promoted by scholars at Princeton University and Harvard University. His work refines constructions related to bordism, symmetric monoidal categories, and duality phenomena appearing in the work of Michael Atiyah, Graeme Segal, and Jacob Lurie. He has contributed to clarifying uniqueness statements and classification results for low-dimensional field theories, engaging with literature by authors from University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, and the Duke University mathematics departments.

His contributions include rigorous treatments of connections between geometric topology—drawing on techniques from the traditions of William Thurston and Stephen Smale—and modern categorical approaches associated with André Joyal and Carlos Simpson. Schommer-Pries has also investigated relationships between modular tensor categories studied by researchers at University of California, San Diego and constructions in conformal field theory communities tied to Perelman Prize-adjacent research networks.

Awards and honors

Schommer-Pries has received recognition from professional bodies including honors and invited positions from the National Science Foundation associated programs, fellowships connected to the Simons Foundation, and invitations to seminal workshops at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute. He has been an invited speaker at meetings organized by the American Mathematical Society and has held visiting scholar status at the Institute for Advanced Study and the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics. His research has been cited in surveys and monographs issued by the Cambridge University Press and scholarly collections associated with the European Mathematical Society.

Selected publications

- Schommer-Pries, C., papers on classification of low-dimensional topological field theories appearing in proceedings of meetings held by the American Mathematical Society and publications affiliated with the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute. - Expository and research articles on higher categorical structures and bordism published in venues connected to Springer and collaborative volumes involving researchers from Princeton University and Harvard University. - Contributions to lecture notes and monographs used in graduate programs at institutions such as the University of California, Berkeley, University of Chicago, and the Institute for Advanced Study.

Teaching and mentorship

In his teaching roles at institutions including the University of Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins University, and during visiting appointments at Stanford University and MIT, Schommer-Pries has supervised graduate theses and mentored doctoral students who have continued research at places like the California Institute of Technology, Cornell University, and the University of Michigan. He has taught graduate courses on algebraic topology, category theory, and topological quantum field theory drawing on curricula developed in collaboration with faculty from Columbia University, Yale University, and the University of Pennsylvania. He has organized seminars and reading groups modeled on programs at the Institute for Advanced Study and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute.

Personal life and activism

Beyond academia, Schommer-Pries has participated in outreach and advocacy connected to academic policies and support for early-career researchers, aligning with initiatives from the American Mathematical Society and the Council of Graduate Schools. He has engaged with community-oriented mathematics events similar to those run by the National Museum of Mathematics and contributed to panels involving representatives from the Simons Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and university administrations at the University of Notre Dame and Johns Hopkins University.

Category:American mathematicians Category:Algebraic topologists