Stephen George Simpson (born September 8, 1945) is an American mathematician whose research concerns the

foundations of mathematics Foundations of mathematics are the mathematical logic, logical and mathematics, mathematical framework that allows the development of mathematics without generating consistency, self-contradictory theories, and to have reliable concepts of theo ...

, including work in

mathematical logic Mathematical logic is the study of Logic#Formal logic, formal logic within mathematics. Major subareas include model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion theory (also known as computability theory). Research in mathematical logic com ...

recursion theory Computability theory, also known as recursion theory, is a branch of mathematical logic, computer science, and the theory of computation that originated in the 1930s with the study of computable functions and Turing degrees. The field has since ex ...

, and

Ramsey theory Ramsey theory, named after the British mathematician and philosopher Frank P. Ramsey, is a branch of the mathematical field of combinatorics that focuses on the appearance of order in a substructure given a structure of a known size. Problems in R ...

. He is known for his extensive development of the field of reverse mathematics founded by Harvey Friedman, in which the goal is to determine which axioms are needed to prove certain mathematical theorems. He has also argued for the benefits of finitistic mathematical systems, such as primitive recursive arithmetic, which do not include

actual infinity In the philosophy of mathematics, the abstraction of actual infinity, also called completed infinity, involves infinite entities as given, actual and completed objects. The concept of actual infinity was introduced into mathematics near the en ...

. A conference in honor of Simpson's 70th birthday was organized in May 2016.

Education

Simpson graduated in 1966 from

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

with a B.A. (summa cum laude) and M.A. in mathematics. He earned a Ph.D. from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in 1971, with a dissertation entitled ''Admissible Ordinals and Recursion Theory'' and supervised by Gerald Sacks.

Career

After short-term positions at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, 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 the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, Simpson became an assistant professor at the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

in 1975. At Penn State, he was Raymond N. Shibley professor from 1987 to 1992. In 2016, his wife, computer scientist Padma Raghavan, moved from Penn State to

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 ...

to become vice provost for research, and Simpson followed her, becoming a research professor at Vanderbilt..

Selected publications

*. *. *. *. *. 2nd ed., 2009, .

References

External links

Home page at PSUGoogle scholar profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Steve Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American mathematicians American logicians Lehigh University alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni Pennsylvania State University faculty Mathematical logicians Proof theorists Vanderbilt University faculty 21st-century American mathematicians