Awarded to Gilbert Strang (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA).
The Su Buchin Prize was established to provide international recognition of an outstanding contribution by an individual in the application of Mathematics to emerging economies and human development, in particular at the economic and cultural level in developing countries.
It was created on the initiative of the CSIAM, and will be awarded for the first time in 2007. The Su Buchin Prize is presently funded by CSIAM.
Gilbert Strang has made great contributions in many areas of pure and applied mathematics, including finite-element methods, linear algebra and matrix theory, wavelet analysis, signal and image processing, geodesy and telecommunications. He has also made remarkable contributions to the promotion of mathematical research and education in developing countries, and has had significant impact on human development in the area of mathematics. He has visited China eight times, and during these visits has spent much time in discussing mathematics and sharing teaching experiences with many chinese students, researchers and teachers. His book An Analysis of the Finite Element Method (with George Fix, Prentice-Hall, 1973) has been very popular in China since it was published, and is still influential now. He has visited many other developing countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore (5 trips), Brazil, Mexico (4 trips), Tunisia, South Africa, Egypt, India, Korea and Cyprus etc. As President of SIAM from 1999 to 2000 he made efforts to extend SIAM membership in Asia, and helped to plan, arrange and organize visits by US-based mathematicians to Vietnam and to Africa. He also made significant contributions to the National Academy of Sciences document Report on Advanced Mathematics in Africa: Opportunities for Capacity Building. Through MIT's OpenCourseWare his educational materials are available on the web, free-of-charge to any user anywhere in the world. In this way Gilbert Strang's dream to effectively promote mathematics and its education in developing countries, in particular in regions that are hard to reach, becomes true. He has devoted much time on creating, improving and promoting his popular web course on Linear Algebra in an effort to better serve his audience.
In summary, Gilbert Strang has made himself one of the most recognized mathematicians in the developing countries. His great contribution in mathematics, and his dedication to advancing public awareness of the power and potential of mathematics, have made outstanding contributions to human development, which have benefited many students, teachers and mathematicians. Gilbert Strang well deserves the ICIAM Su Buchin Prize.
Subcommittee for the 2007 ICIAM Su Buchin Prize
- Li Da-Qian (Fudan, Shanghai), chair;
- Samuel Shen (Alberta);
- Doina Cioranescou (Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris);
- Philippe Ciarlet (City University Hong Kong);
- Jacob Palis (IMPA, Brazil);
- Sibusiso Sibisi (CSIR, South Africa).