Wolf Prize for Mathematics: Winners by Year

Award years

• 2024

  • Adi Shamir

    for his fundamental contributions to Mathematical Cryptography.

  • Noga Alon

    for his fundamental contributions to Combinatorics and Theoretical Computer Science.

• 2023

  • Ingrid Daubechies

    for work in wavelet theory and applied harmonic analysis.

• 2022

  • George Lusztig

    for Groundbreaking contributions to representation theory and related areas.

• 2020

  • Simon Donaldson

    for their contributions to differential geometry and topology

  • Yakov Eliashberg

    for their contributions to differential geometry and topology.

• 2019

  • Gregory Lawler

    for his extensive and groundbreaking research on random paths and loops.

  • Jean-Francois Le Gall

    for his deep and elegant work on stochastic processes.

• 2018

  • Alexander Beilinson, Vladimir Drinfeld

    for their ground-breaking work in algebraic geometry (a field that integrates abstract algebra with geometry), in mathematical physics and in presentation theory, a field which helps to understand complex algebraic structures.

• 2017

  • Charles Fefferman, Richard Schoen

    for their striking contributions to analysis and geometry.

• 2015

  • James G. Arthur

    for his monumental work on the trace formula and his fundamental contributions to the theory of automorphic representations of reductive groups.

• 2014

  • Peter Sarnak

    for deep contributions to Analysis, Number Theory, Geometry, and Combinatorics.

• 2013

  • George D. Mostow

    for fundamental and pioneering contribution to geometry and Lie group theory.

  • Michael Artin

    for fundamental contributions to algebraic geometry, both commutative and non-commutative.

• 2012

  • Luis Caffarelli

    for outstanding, visionary, original and fundamental work on partial differential equations, in particular on regularity for elliptic and parabolic equations, free boundary problems and fluid mechanics.

  • Michael Aschbacher

    for being a principal architect of the classification of finite simple groups. His impact on the theory of finite is extraordinary in its depth, breadth and beauty.

• 2010

  • Dennis Sullivan

    for his innovative contributions to algebraic topology and conformal dynamics.

  • Shing-Tung Yau

    for his work in geometric analysis that has had a profound and dramatic impact on many areas of geometry and physics.

• 2008

  • David Mumford

    for his work on algebraic surfaces, on geometric invariant theory, and for laying the foundations of the modern algebraic theory of moduli of curves and theta functions.

  • Phillip A. Griffiths

    for his work on variations of Hodge structures, the theory of periods of abelian integrals, and for his contributions to complex differential geometry.

  • Pierre Deligne

    for his work on mixed Hodge theory, the Weil conjectures, the Riemann-Hilbert correspondence, and for his contributions to arithmetic.

• 2006/2007

  • Hillel Furstenberg

    for his profound contributions to ergodic theory, probability, topological dynamics, analysis on symmetric spaces and homogenous flows.

  • Stephen Smale

    for his groundbreaking contributions that have played a fundamental role in shaping differential topology, dynamical systems, mathematical economics, and other subjects in mathematics.

• 2005

  • Grigory Margulis

    for his monumental contributions to algebra, in particular to the theory of lattices in semi-simple Lie groups, and striking applications of this to ergodic theory, representation theory, number theory, combinatorics and measure theory.

  • Sergei Novikov

    for his fundamental and pioneering contributions to algebraic and differential topology, and to mathematical physics, notably the introduction of algebraic-geometric methods.

• 2002/2003

  • John Tate

    for his creation of fundamental concepts in algebraic number theory.

  • Mikio Sato

    for his creation of 'algebraic analysis', including hyperfunction and microfunction theory,holonomic quantum field theory, and a unified theory of soliton equations.

• 2001

  • Saharon Shelah

    for his many fundamental contributions to mathematical logic and set theory, and their applications within other parts of mathematics.

  • Vladimir Arnold

    for his deep and influential work in a multitude of areas of mathematics, including dynamical systems, differential equations, and singularity theory.

• 2000

  • Jean-Pierre Serre

    for his many fundamental contributions to topology, algebraic geometry, algebra, and number theory and for his inspirational lectures and writing.

  • Raoul Bott

    for his deep discoveries in topology and differential geometry and their applications to Lie groups, differential operators and mathematical physics.

• 1999

  • Elias M. Stein

    for his contributions to classical and 'Euclidean' Fourier analysis and for his exceptional impact on a new generation of analysts through his eloquent teaching and writing.

  • László Lovász

    for his outstanding contributions to combinatorics, theoretical computer science and combinatorial optimization.

• 1996/1997

  • Joseph B. Keller

    for his profound and innovative contributions, in particular to electromagnetic, optical, acoustic wave propagation and to fluid, solid, quantum and statistical mechanics.

  • Yakov Sinai

    for his fundamental contributions to mathematically rigorous methods in statistical mechanics and the ergodic theory of dynamical systems and their applications in physics.

• 1995/1996

  • Andrew Wiles

    for spectacular contributions to number theory and related fields, major advances on undamental conjectures, and for settling Fermat's last theorem.

  • Robert Langlands

    for his path-blazing work and extraordinary insight in the fields of number theory, automorphic forms and group representation.

• 1994/1995

  • Jürgen Moser

    for his fundamental work on stability in Hamiltonian and his profound and influential contributions to nonlinear differential equations.

• 1993

  • Jacques Tits

    for his pioneering and fundamental contributions to the theory of the structure of algebraic and other classes of groups and in particular for the theory of buildings.

  • Mikhail Gromov

    for his revolutionary contributions to global Riemannian and symplectic geometry, algebraic topology, geometric group theory and the theory of partial differential equations.

• 1992

  • John G. Thompson

    for his profound contributions to all aspects of finite group theory and connections with other branches of mathematics.

  • Lennart Carleson

    for his fundamental contributions to Fourier analysis, complex analysis, quasiconformal mappings and dynamical systems.

• 1990

  • Ennio De Giorgi

    for his innovating ideas and fundamental achievements in partial differential equations and calculus of variations.

  • Ilya Piatetski-Shapiro

    for his fundamental contributions in the fields of homogeneous complex domains, discrete groups, representation theory and automorphic forms.

• 1989

  • Alberto Calderón

    for his groundbreaking work on singular integral operators and their application to and important problems in partial differential equations.

  • John Milnor

    for ingenious and highly original discoveries in geometry, which have opened important new vistas in topology from the algebraic, combinatorial, and differentiable viewpoint.

• 1988

  • Friedrich Hirzebruch

    for outstanding work combining topology, algebraic and differential geometry, and algebraic number theory; and for his stimulation of mathematical cooperation and research.

  • Lars Hörmander

    for fundamental work in modern analysis, in particular, the application of pseudo differential and Fourier integral operators to linear partial differential equations.

• 1987

  • Kiyoshi Itō

    for his fundamental contributions to pure and applied probability theory, especially the creation of the stochastic differential and integral calculus.

  • Peter Lax

    for his outstanding contributions to many areas of analysis and applied mathematics.

• 1986

  • Atle Selberg

    for his profound and original work on number theory and on discrete groups and automorphic forms.

  • Samuel Eilenberg

    for his fundamental work in algebraic topology and homological algebra.

• 1984/1985

  • Hans Lewy

    for initiating many, now classic and essential, developments in partial differential equations.

  • Kunihiko Kodaira

    for his outstanding contributions to the study of complex manifolds and algebraic varieties.

• 1983/1984

  • Paul Erdős

    for his numerous contributions to number theory, combinatorics, probability, set theory, and mathematical analysis, and for personally stimulating mathematicians the world over.

  • Shiing-Shen Chern

    for outstanding contributions to global differential geometry, which have profoundly influenced all mathematics.

• 1982

  • Hassler Whitney

    for his fundamental work in algebraic topology, differential geometry and differential topology.

  • Mark Krein

    for his fundamental contributions to functional analysis and its applications.

• 1981

  • Lars Ahlfors

    for seminal discoveries and the creation of powerful new methods in geometric function theory.

  • Oscar Zariski

    Creator of the modern approach to Algebraic geometry, by its fusion, with Commutative algebra.

• 1980

  • Andrey Kolmogorov

    for deep and original discoveries in Fourier analysis, probability theory, ergodic theory and dynamical systems.

  • Henri Cartan

    for pioneering work in algebraic topology, complex variables homological algebra and inspired leadership of a generation of mathematicians.

• 1979

  • André Weil

    for his inspired introduction of algebro-geometry to the theory of numbers.

  • Jean Leray

    for pioneering work on the development and application of topological methods to the study of differential equations.

• 1978

  • Carl L. Siegel

    in recognition of his contributions to the theory of numbers, theory of several complex variables, and celestial mechanics.

  • Israel Gelfand

    for his work on functional analysis, group representation, and for his seminal contributions to many areas of mathematics and its applications.