John Smillie (mathematician)
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John David Smillie (born February 18, 1953, in
Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...
) is an American mathematician, specializing in dynamical systems.


Biography

His father, David Smillie, was a professor of psychology. John Smillie graduated in 1974 with a B.A. in mathematics from
New College of Florida New College of Florida is a public university, public liberal arts college in Sarasota, Florida, United States. The college is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. New College has the smallest student enrollment in the State U ...
. At 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 ...
he graduated with an M.S. in 1975 and a Ph.D. in 1977. His Ph.D. thesis ''Affinely flat manifolds'' was supervised by
Richard Lashof Richard K. Lashof (November 9, 1922 – February 4, 2010) was an American mathematician. He contributed to the field of geometric and differential topology, working with Shiing-Shen Chern, Stephen Smale, among others. Lashof was regarded as "the k ...
. From 1977 to 1980 Smillie was an instructor at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
. For the academic year 1980–1981 he was at the
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...
. He was a postdoc for the academic year 1981–1982 at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, and for the academic year 1982–1983 at
Graduate Center of the City University of New York The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and postgraduate university in New York City. Formed in 1961 as Division of Graduate Studies at City University ...
(CUNY).Curriculum Vitae
University of Warwick, United Kingdom. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
At CUNY Smillie was an assistant professor from 1983 to 1986 and an associate professor from 1986 to 1989 at
Lehman College Lehman College is a public college in New York City, United States. Founded in 1931 as the Bronx campus of Hunter College, it became an independent college in 1967. The college is named after Herbert H. Lehman, a former New York governor, United ...
and CUNY Graduate Center. At
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
has he was a visiting associate professor from 1986 to 1987, an associate professor from 1987 to December 1990, and a full professor from January 1991 to July 2015, when he became an emeritus professor. At Cornell University he was the chair of the mathematics department from 1999 to 2002. In 2013 he became a professor at the
University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...
. He is married to the mathematician
Karen Vogtmann Karen Vogtmann (born July 13, 1949 in Pittsburg, California''Biographies of Candidates 200 ...
. The couple moved in 2013 to England and settled in
Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District of Warwickshire, England, southwest of Coventry and north of both Warwick and Leamington Spa. Situated at the centre of t ...
. His research deals with "polygonal billiards and dynamics of flows on
Teichmüller space In mathematics, the Teichmüller space T(S) of a (real) topological (or differential) surface S is a space that parametrizes complex structures on S up to the action of homeomorphisms that are isotopic to the identity homeomorphism. Teichmülle ...
; analysis of algorithms; and
diffeomorphism In mathematics, a diffeomorphism is an isomorphism of differentiable manifolds. It is an invertible function that maps one differentiable manifold to another such that both the function and its inverse are continuously differentiable. Definit ...
s of surfaces", as well as " translation surfaces and complex dynamics in higher dimensions". Smillie has held visiting positions at several institutions, including the
University of Illinois Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...
, the
École normale supérieure de Lyon École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...
, the
Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques The Institut des hautes études scientifiques (IHÉS; English: Institute of Advanced Scientific Studies) is a French research institute supporting advanced research in mathematics and theoretical physics (also with a small theoretical biology g ...
, the
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute The Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath), formerly the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI), is an independent nonprofit mathematical research institution on the University of California campus in Berkeley, Califor ...
in Berkeley, the
Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences The is a research institute attached to Kyoto University, hosting researchers in the mathematical sciences from all over Japan. RIMS was founded in April 1963. List of directors * Masuo Fukuhara (1963.5.1 – 1969.3.31) * Kōsaku Yosida (1969 ...
of
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 ...
, and the Mathematical Institute of the
Hausdorff Center for Mathematics The Hausdorff Center for Mathematics (HCM) is a research center in Bonn, formed by the four mathematical institutes of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn (Mathematical Institute, Institute for Applied Mathematics, Institute for Nume ...
in Bonn. He has given talks in the USA, Canada, France, Italy, Israel, Brazil, and China. In 2002 he was an invited speaker at the
International Congress of Mathematicians The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU). The Fields Medals, the IMU Abacus Medal (known before ...
in Beijing.


Selected publications

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smillie, John 1953 births Living people 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Dynamical systems theorists New College of Florida alumni University of Chicago alumni CUNY Graduate Center faculty Cornell University faculty Academics of the University of Warwick Lehman College faculty