William Edgar Fulton (born August 29, 1939) 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 ...

, specializing in

algebraic geometry Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics which uses abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, to solve geometry, geometrical problems. Classically, it studies zero of a function, zeros of multivariate polynomials; th ...

Education and career

He received his undergraduate 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 ' ...

in 1961 and his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

from

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 ...

in 1966. His Ph.D. thesis, written under the supervision of Gerard Washnitzer, was on ''The fundamental group of an algebraic curve''. Fulton worked at Princeton and

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

from 1965 until 1970, when he began teaching at Brown. In 1987 he moved to 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 ...

.Announcement of the
1996 Steele Prizes at 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, ...

web site, accessed July 15, 2009. He is, as of 2011, a professor at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. As of 2024, Fulton had supervised the doctoral work of 24 students at Brown, Chicago, and Michigan. Fulton is known as the author or coauthor of a number of popular texts, including ''Algebraic Curves'' and ''Representation Theory''.

Awards and honors

In 1996 he received the Steele Prize for mathematical exposition for his text ''Intersection Theory''. Fulton is a member of the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

since 1997; a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

from 1998, and was elected a foreign member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

in 2000. In 2010, he was awarded the Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement.http://www.ams.org/ams/press/steele-lifetime-2010.html AMS announcement of 2010 Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement In 2012 he became a fellow of the

Selected works

* ''Algebraic Curves: An Introduction To Algebraic Geometry'', with Richard Weiss. New York: Benjamin, 1969. Reprint ed.: Redwood City, CA, USA: Addison-Wesley, Advanced Book Classics, 1989. .
Full text online
* *

References

External links

Fulton's home page
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulton, William 1939 births Living people 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Algebraic geometers Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Princeton University alumni University of Michigan faculty People from Naugatuck, Connecticut Mathematicians from Connecticut Brandeis University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Education and career

Awards and honors

Selected works

See also

References

External links