Sir Vaughan Frederick Randal Jones (31 December 19526 September 2020) was a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

mathematician known for his work on

von Neumann algebra In mathematics, a von Neumann algebra or W*-algebra is a *-algebra of bounded operators on a Hilbert space that is closed in the weak operator topology and contains the identity operator. It is a special type of C*-algebra. Von Neumann al ...

s and knot polynomials. He was awarded a

Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of Mathematicians, International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place e ...

in 1990.

Early life

Jones was born in Gisborne,

, on 31 December 1952. He was brought up in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, New Zealand, where he attended St Peter's School. He subsequently transferred to Auckland Grammar School after winning the Gillies Scholarship, and graduated in 1969 from Auckland Grammar. He went on to complete his undergraduate studies at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

, obtaining a BSc in 1972 and an MSc in 1973. For his graduate studies, he went to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

where he completed his PhD at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

in 1979. His thesis, titled ''Actions of finite groups on the hyperfinite II₁ factor'', was written under the supervision of

André Haefliger André Haefliger (; 22 May 19297 March 2023) was a Swiss mathematician who worked primarily on topology. Education and career Haefliger went to school in Nyon and then attended his final years at Collège Calvin, Collège de Genève in Genev ...

, and won him the Vacheron Constantin Prize.

Career

Jones moved to the United States in 1980. There, he taught at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(1980–1981), and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

(1981–1985), before being appointed as professor of mathematics 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 ...

. His work on knot polynomials, with the discovery of what is now called the

Jones polynomial In the mathematical field of knot theory, the Jones polynomial is a knot polynomial discovered by Vaughan Jones in 1984. Specifically, it is an invariant of an oriented knot or link which assigns to each oriented knot or link a Laurent polyno ...

, was from an unexpected direction with origins in the theory of von Neumann algebras, an area of

analysis Analysis (: analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

already much developed by

Alain Connes Alain Connes (; born 1 April 1947) is a French mathematician, known for his contributions to the study of operator algebras and noncommutative geometry. He was a professor at the , , Ohio State University and Vanderbilt University. He was awar ...

. It led to the solution of a number of classical problems of

knot theory In topology, knot theory is the study of knot (mathematics), mathematical knots. While inspired by knots which appear in daily life, such as those in shoelaces and rope, a mathematical knot differs in that the ends are joined so it cannot be und ...

, to increased interest in

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, ...

, and the development of quantum topology. Jones taught at

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 ...

as Stevenson Distinguished Professor of mathematics from 2011 until his death. He remained Professor Emeritus at University of California, Berkeley, where he had been on the faculty from 1985 to 2011 and was a Distinguished Alumni Professor at the

. Jones was made an honorary vice-president for life of the International Guild of Knot Tyers in 1992. The Jones Medal, created by the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2010, is named after him.

Personal life

Jones met his wife, Martha Myers, during a ski camp for foreign students while they were studying in Switzerland. She was there as a

Fulbright scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

, and subsequently became an associate professor of medicine, health and society. Together, they have three children. Jones died on 6 September 2020 at age 67 from health complications resulting from a severe ear infection. Jones was a certified barista.

Honours and awards

* 1990awarded the

* 1990elected

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

* 1991awarded the Rutherford Medal by the Royal Society of New Zealand * 1991awarded the degree of

Doctor of Science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

by the

* 1991 – elected Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand * 1992elected to the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

as a Corresponding Fellow * 1992awarded a Miller Professorship at the University of California Berkeley * 2002appointed Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DCNZM) in the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, for services to mathematics * 2009his DCNZM redesignated to a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2009 Special Honours * 2012elected 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, ...

Publications

* * * * * * *

References

External links

* *
Jones' home page

* Joan S. Birman: ''The Work of Vaughan F. R. Jones'' in Ichirō Satake (ed.): ''Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians, 21–29 August 1990, Kyoto, Japan'', Springer, 1991 (Laudatio for Fields-Medal 1990
online
) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Vaughan 1952 births 2020 deaths People from Gisborne, New Zealand People from Waikato People educated at Auckland Grammar School University of Auckland alumni Fields Medalists 20th-century New Zealand mathematicians 21st-century New Zealand mathematicians New Zealand expatriates in Switzerland University of Geneva alumni University of California, Los Angeles faculty University of Pennsylvania faculty University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty Vanderbilt University faculty Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand New Zealand fellows of the Royal Society Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Rutherford Medal Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science