Dan Margalit (born March 6, 1976) is an American

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

. His research fields include

geometric group theory Geometric group theory is an area in mathematics devoted to the study of finitely generated groups via exploring the connections between algebraic properties of such groups and topological and geometric properties of spaces on which these group ...

and

low-dimensional topology In mathematics, low-dimensional topology is the branch of topology that studies manifolds, or more generally topological spaces, of four or fewer dimensions. Representative topics are the theory of 3-manifolds and 4-manifolds, knot theory, ...

, with a particular focus on mapping class groups of surfaces.

Education and career

Margalit earned his bachelor's degree from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. He earned his doctorate from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 2003, advised by Benson Farb. His thesis was titled ''Algebra versus Topology in Mapping Class Groups''. Margalit was a postdoctoral scholar at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

from 2003 to 2008. He was a faculty member at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

from 2008 to 2010, before going to the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 2023, Margalit moved to Vanderbilt University as chair of the Department of Mathematics. Margalit is known for his work in exposition of geometric group theory, particularly his book with Benson Farb, ''A Primer on Mapping Class Groups''.

Awards and honors

Margalit became a

fellow of the American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

in 2019; he was recognized "for contributions to low-dimensional topology and geometric group theory, exposition, and mentoring." Margalit was a 2009 Sloan Research Fellow. For 2021 he received the

Levi L. Conant Prize The Levi L. Conant Prize is a mathematics prize of the American Mathematical Society, which has been awarded since 2001 for outstanding expository papers published in the ''Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society'' or the ''Notices of the Ame ...

of the AMS. For 2024 he was awarded the

Leroy P. Steele Prize The Leroy P. Steele Prizes are awarded every year by the American Mathematical Society, for distinguished research work and writing in the field of mathematics. Since 1993, there has been a formal division into three categories. The prizes have b ...

for Mathematical Exposition.

Selected publications

Books *Reviews of ''A Primer on Mapping Class Groups'' * * * * Translations *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Margalit, Dan 1976 births Living people 21st-century American mathematicians Tufts University faculty Georgia Tech faculty Brown University alumni University of Chicago alumni Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Sloan Research Fellows American topologists Group theorists