Gunnar Carlsson

[13] professor, Department of Mathematics, Stanford[14]

What is Gunnar Carlsson known for?

Gunnar E. Carlsson, an eminent mathematician, was born on August 22, 1952, in Stockholm, Sweden. An alumnus of Redwood High School (Larkspur, California), Carlsson is renowned for his pivotal contributions to the field of mathematics, particularly in algebraic topology. He is acclaimed for his significant works on the Segal conjecture and topological data analysis.

After graduating from Redwood High school in 1969, Carlsson went on to receive a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1976 under the supervision of R. J. Milgram. He then held prominent academic positions at numerous esteemed universities, including the University of Chicago (1976-1978), University of California, San Diego (1978–86), Princeton University (1986-1991), and Stanford University (1991–2015). During his tenure at Stanford, he was bestowed with the Anne and Bill Swindells Professorship and served as the Chair of the Department of Mathematics from 1995 to 1998.

Carlsson's illustrious career is punctuated with a series of prestigious awards and presentations. He was an Ordway Visiting Professor at the University of Minnesota (May–June 1991) and held a Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship from 1984 to 1986. He delivered an invited address at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Berkeley, California, in 1986, and was selected to give a plenary address at the annual meeting of the American Mathematical Society in 1984. Further speaking engagements included the Whittaker Colloquium at the University of Edinburgh (2011), the Rademacher Lectures at the University of Pennsylvania (2011), and an invited plenary address at the annual meeting of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (2012).

Beyond academia, Gunnar Carlsson ventured into the tech industry. In 2008, he co-founded Ayasdi, a predictive technology company leveraging big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.

He is admired for his groundbreaking contributions to areas such as algebraic topology, particularly equivariant stable homotopy theory, algebraic K-theory, and applied algebraic topology that led to his election as a member of the 2017 class of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society.

His remarkable body of work and achievements truly demonstrate the profound impact of his contributions to the field of mathematics and beyond. His journey illustrates the potential for high school students like those at Redwood High School to make noteworthy contributions to academia and industry.