Ellenberg, Jordan

Ellenberg, Jordan
Name	Jordan Ellenberg
Birth date	1971
Birth place	Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Mathematician; Author; Professor
Alma mater	Williams College; Ph.D. Princeton University
Doctoral advisor	Andrew Wiles
Known for	Research in arithmetic geometry, popular mathematics writing

Ellenberg, Jordan

Jordan Ellenberg (born 1971) is an American mathematician, author, and professor known for research in number theory, arithmetic geometry, and for widely read popular mathematics books and essays. He holds academic appointments and has written for major publications, bridging technical work with public engagement through books, columns, and lectures. Ellenberg's profile spans contributions to research topics connected to figures and institutions such as Andrew Wiles, Princeton University, Harvard University, and readers of outlets like The New York Times and Slate.

Early life and education

Ellenberg was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and grew up in a milieu connected to Midwestern academic circles and regional institutions such as Milwaukee schools and programs that feed into national research universities. He attended Williams College for undergraduate study, where mentors and colleagues included faculty and visiting scholars linked to Harvard University and MIT networks. He completed his doctoral studies at Princeton University under the supervision of Andrew Wiles, situating him within a lineage associated with breakthroughs in the Taniyama–Shimura conjecture and proof strategies related to Fermat's Last Theorem and the broader community that includes researchers at Institute for Advanced Study and international centers like IHÉS.

Academic career

After earning his Ph.D., Ellenberg held faculty positions at institutions that include University of Wisconsin–Madison and later University of Chicago, joining departments with links to scholars from Harvard, Stanford University, and Yale University. His roles encompassed teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, supervising doctoral students who went on to positions at universities such as Columbia University and research institutes like MSRI. Ellenberg participated in collaborative programs and workshops associated with Simons Foundation, Clay Mathematics Institute, and conferences at venues like Oberwolfach and Banff Centre. He has also served as an invited speaker at assemblies including meetings of the American Mathematical Society and the International Congress of Mathematicians.

Research and contributions

Ellenberg's research centers on arithmetic aspects of algebraic varieties, diophantine geometry, and the interplay between topology and arithmetic explored through tools from étale cohomology, Galois representations, and sieve methods inspired by work of Yuri Manin and Enrico Bombieri. His papers address counting rational points, distribution phenomena related to modular forms and families of curves, and aspects of the Langlands program as it interacts with concrete enumerative problems. Collaborative work has connected him with researchers such as Burt Totaro, Akshay Venkatesh, and Manjul Bhargava in projects examining moduli spaces, cohomological growth, and arithmetic statistics. Ellenberg has developed techniques combining algebraic geometry with analytic number theory traditions traceable to G. H. Hardy and John Tate, producing results cited by groups at Cornell University and laboratories at Princeton. His contributions influenced later studies at centers such as ETH Zurich and University of Cambridge that pursue related questions in diophantine approximation and rational point counts.

Publications and popular writing

Ellenberg is author of books aimed at general audiences and specialists alike, publishing with presses and journals that include outlets associated with Random House, scholarly publishers tied to Cambridge University Press, and periodicals such as The New York Times, Slate, and Quanta Magazine. His notable popular book became a bestseller and drew comparisons with works by public-facing scientists and mathematicians like Steven Strogatz and Ian Stewart. He has written essays on mathematics and culture, connecting ideas to historical figures including Srinivasa Ramanujan, Carl Friedrich Gauss, and Pierre de Fermat, and to mathematical events such as the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem and developments around the ABC conjecture. His academic publications appear in journals that intersect communities around Annals of Mathematics, Inventiones Mathematicae, and subject-specific periodicals read by researchers at University of California, Berkeley and Princeton.

Awards and honors

Ellenberg has received recognition from professional organizations and foundations including fellowships and prizes awarded by entities such as the National Science Foundation, the American Mathematical Society, and research prizes that have acknowledged contributions to both scholarship and public communication. He has been invited to lecture at prestigious venues like Institute for Advanced Study and awarded visiting positions supported by organizations such as the Simons Foundation and trusts affiliated with universities like Yale University. His popular writing has earned literary attention alongside accolades familiar to authors whose work intersects with science journalism and public scholarship.

Personal life

Ellenberg lives and works in academic settings where he balances research, teaching, and writing, maintaining collaborations and friendships with colleagues at institutions such as University of Chicago, Harvard University, and Princeton University. Outside mathematics, he engages with cultural institutions and media outlets, contributing to public conversations through appearances and interviews involving platforms like NPR and television programs linked to intellectual outreach.

Category:Living people Category:American mathematicians Category:1971 births