Frans Oort (born 17 July 1935) is a Dutch mathematician who specializes 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 ...

Career

Oort studied from 1952 to 1958 at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

, where he graduated with a thesis on

elliptic curve In mathematics, an elliptic curve is a smooth, projective, algebraic curve of genus one, on which there is a specified point . An elliptic curve is defined over a field and describes points in , the Cartesian product of with itself. If the ...

s. He received his doctorate in 1961 in Leiden from and Jaap Murre with thesis ''Reducible and Multiple Algebraic Curves'', but had previously studied under

Jean-Pierre Serre Jean-Pierre Serre (; born 15 September 1926) is a French mathematician who has made contributions to algebraic topology, algebraic geometry and algebraic number theory. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1954, the Wolf Prize in 2000 and the inau ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Aldo Andreotti Aldo Andreotti (15 March 1924 – 21 February 1980) was an Italian mathematician who worked on algebraic geometry, on the theory of functions of several complex variables and on partial differential operators. Notably he proved the Andreotti–F ...

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

. Oort was from 1961 at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

, where he became a professor in 1967. In 1977, until his retirement in 2000, he was a professor at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

. He was a visiting scholar at several academic institutions, including

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(1966/67) and

Aarhus University Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Ut ...

(1972/73). In 2008 he was the Eilenberg Professor at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. His doctoral students include

Bas Edixhoven Sebastiaan Johan Edixhoven (12 March 1962 – 16 January 2022) was a Dutch mathematician who worked in arithmetic geometry. He was a professor at University of Rennes 1 and Leiden University. Education Bas Edixhoven was born on 12 March 1962 in ...

Michiel Hazewinkel Michiel Hazewinkel (born 22 June 1943) is a Dutch mathematician, and Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the Centre for Mathematics and Computer Science and the University of Amsterdam, particularly known for his 1978 book ''Formal groups and a ...

, Aise Johan de Jong,

Hendrik Lenstra Hendrik Willem Lenstra Jr. (born 16 April 1949, Zaandam) is a Dutch mathematician. Biography Lenstra received his doctorate from the University of Amsterdam in 1977 and became a professor there in 1978. In 1987, he was appointed to the faculty o ...

and

Joseph Steenbrink Joseph Henri Maria Steenbrink (born 1947) is a Dutch mathematician, specializing in algebraic geometry. Steenbrink received in 1974 his doctorate from the University of Amsterdam with thesis advisor Frans Oort and thesis ''Limits of Hodge Structu ...

Research

Oort's research deals with, among other topics,

abelian varieties In mathematics, particularly in algebraic geometry, complex analysis and algebraic number theory, an abelian variety is a smooth projective algebraic variety that is also an algebraic group, i.e., has a group law that can be defined by regular f ...

and their

modules Module, modular and modularity may refer to the concept of modularity. They may also refer to: Computer science and engineering * Modular design, the engineering discipline of designing complex devices using separately designed sub-components ...

. In 1994, he formulated what is now known as the André–Oort conjecture (generalizing a conjecture made in 1989 by

Yves André Yves André (born December 11, 1959) is a French mathematician, specializing in arithmetic geometry. Biography André received his doctorate in 1984 from Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris VI) with thesis advisor Daniel Bertrand and thesis ...

). In 2000 Oort proved a conjecture made by Grothendieck in 1970.

Awards and honors

In 1962, Oort made a short contribution ''Multiple algebraic curves'' 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 ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, but was not an invited speaker. In 2011 he was elected a member of

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

. In July 2013, he gave a talk at the

International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians The International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians (ICCM) () is an international non-governmental organization dedicated to bringing together Chinese mathematicians to discuss current research in mathematics as well as recognizing the achievements ...

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Personal life

Oort married and later divorced author (1936–2020).

Selected publications

* ''Commutative group schemes'', Springer 1966; * as editor: ''Algebraic Geometry'', Oslo 1970, Wolters-Noordhoff 1972 * with Ke-Zheng Li
''Moduli of supersingular abelian varieties''
Springer 1998 * as editor with Steenbrink and van der Geer: '' Arithmetic algebraic geometry '', Birkhäuser 1991; * as editor with Carel Faber and Gerard van der Geer
''Moduli of abelian varieties''
Birkhäuser 2001 * * with

Ching-Li Chai Ching-Li Chai (; born 12 June 1956) is a Taiwanese mathematician. Career Chai completed his doctoral thesis, ''Compactification of the Siegel Moduli Schemes'', in 1984, under the supervision of David Mumford at Harvard University. Chai was the Fra ...

References

External links

Homepage in Utrecht
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oort, Frans 20th-century Dutch mathematicians 21st-century Dutch mathematicians Algebraic geometers Leiden University alumni Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam Academic staff of Utrecht University Members of Academia Europaea 1935 births Living people