is a Japanese

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 ...

, known as, with

Peter Orlik Peter Paul Nikolas Orlik (born 12 November 1938, in Budapest) is an American mathematician, known for his research on topology, algebra, and combinatorics. Orlik earned in 1961 his bachelor's degree from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in Tr ...

and Louis Solomon, a pioneer of the theory of arrangements of hyperplanes. He was awarded a

Mathematical Society of Japan The Mathematical Society of Japan (MSJ, ) is a learned society for mathematics in Japan. In 1877, the organization was established as the ''Tokyo Sugaku Kaisha'' and was the first academic society in Japan. It was re-organized and re-established i ...

Algebra Prize in 2010.

Education

Terao started his studies at the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

, where he earned in 1974 his bachelor's degree and in 1976 his master's degree. For his graduate studies he went to

Kyoto University , or , is a National university, national research university in Kyoto, Japan. Founded in 1897, it is one of the former Imperial Universities and the second oldest university in Japan. The university has ten undergraduate faculties, eighteen gra ...

, where he earned in 1981 his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree, with a thesis written under the supervision of

Kyoji Saito Kyōji Saitō (齋藤恭司, Saitō Kyōji; born 25 December 1944) is a Japanese mathematician, specializing in algebraic geometry and complex analytic geometry. Education and career Saito received in 1971 his promotion Ph.D. from the Universit ...

Career

He held teaching positions at

International Christian University is a non-denominational private university located in Mitaka, Tokyo. With the efforts of Prince Takamatsu, General Douglas MacArthur, and Bank of Japan, BOJ Governor Hisato Ichimada, ICU was established in 1949 as the first liberal arts coll ...

(1977–1991),

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

(1990–1999),

Tokyo Metropolitan University , often referred to as TMU, is a Public university, public research university in Hachiōji, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan. In contrast to other non-private universities in Tokyo, the university is established under the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, ...

(1998–2006), and

Hokkaido University , or , is a public research university in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Founded in 1918, it is the fifth-oldest government-authorised university in Japan and one of the former Imperial Universities. The university finds its roots in Sapporo A ...

(1996–1998, 2006–2015). He was

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

of the school of science of Hokkaido University (2013–2015), after which he became

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

of Hokkaido University (2015–2017). He has been a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

at Hokkaido University since 2017. He is currently a guest professor at

Research

In 1983, Terao asked whether the freeness of an arrangement is determined from its intersection lattice.Hiroaki Terao, ''The exponents of a free hypersurface'', Singularities, Part 2 (Arcata, Calif., 1981), 561–566, Proc. Sympos. Pure Math., 40, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 1983. This problem is now known as the Terao conjecture, and is still open.

Books

* *

References

External links

* *
Hiroaki Terao's Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Terao, Hiroaki 1951 births Living people 20th-century Japanese mathematicians 21st-century Japanese mathematicians Academic staff of Hokkaido University University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty International Christian University alumni University of Tokyo alumni Kyoto University alumni Mathematicians from Tokyo Japanese expatriates in the United States