Karen Uhlenbeck (BA LSA), a Mathematics professor currently at the University of Texas-Austin, has won the Abel Prize (which is modeled after the Nobel Prize), which along the Fields Medal, is the most prestigious Mathematics award bestowed onto Mathematicians. She is the first woman to have won the award.
Professor Uhlenbeck is the second recipient of the Abel Prize to have earned their undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan. The first was Isadore Singer won the Prize in 2004.
Michigan is the only institution in the United States where two Abel Prize winners went for their undergraduate studies. Considering the fact that only 12 Americans have won the Abel Prize since its inception in 2003, having produced 2 of those 12 is a pretty good indication of the strength of our undergraduate curriculum in Mathematics.
That’s pretty cool. They (UMich Math Dept.) don’t make it easy for math students, that’s for sure. ?
Their Calc and math department were known to be world class. They really prepare the students at Michigan. Math is not easy at any level.
My kid took a math test last week and the average score was 65. The high score was 100 and the low score was 9. That’s about typical in the math dept. I’m just floored by all 3 numbers.
To me, a math degree from UMich (or any of these top universities) is an amazing achievement. Let alone winning Nobel-level (or like) awards.
There is no doubt Michigan’s Mathematics department is top notch and extremely rigorous. Many gifted students drop out of the Pure Mathematics major because it is too intense .
Michigan is one of just 4 institutions where undergraduate students have gone on to win one of the top 3 prizes in Mathematics:
Abel Prize: Isador Singer, BA 1944 (2004) and Karen Uhlenbeck, BA 1964 (2019)
Fields Medal: Steven Smale, BA 1952 (1966)
Wolf Prize: Steven Smale, BA 1952 (2007)
The other three institutions that have completed the trifecta are Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Surprisingly, Cal, Caltech, Chicago, MIT and Stanford undergraduate alumni have not done well, with just a combined 3 alums winning any of the three awards.
Another fun post for stats lovers!
In total, 35 recipients of the Abel Prize, Fields Medal and Wolf Prize have completed their undergraduate studies at US universities. Below are the universities (and colleges) that have won at least one award:
Harvard University 7
Princeton University 7
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 4
Yale University 4
University of Maryland-College Park 2
Brandeis University 1
California Institute of Technology 1
Carnegie Mellon University 1
Citi University of New York 1
New College of Florida 1
New York University 1
Stanford University 1
University of Chicago 1
University of Virginia 1
Wake Forest University 1
Williams College 1
TOTAL: 35
Surprisingly, MIT and the entire University of California system combined have not produced a single winner.
It should be noted than in the case of universities that have won more than one award, some alums have won more than one award. For example, Steven Smale won the Fields Medal and the Wolf Prize. At Harvard and Princeton, at least one alumnus at each of those institutions has won all three awards.