Martin Robert Bridson (born 22 October 1964) is a Manx mathematician. He is Whitehead Professor of Pure Mathematics at 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 ...

, and the president of the Clay Mathematics Institute. He was previously the head of Oxford's Mathematical Institute. He is a fellow of

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

and an honorary fellow of

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...

. Specializing in

geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

topology Topology (from the Greek language, Greek words , and ) is the branch of mathematics concerned with the properties of a Mathematical object, geometric object that are preserved under Continuous function, continuous Deformation theory, deformat ...

and

group theory In abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as group (mathematics), groups. The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as ring (mathematics), rings, field ( ...

, Bridson is best known for his work in

geometric group theory Geometric group theory is an area in mathematics devoted to the study of finitely generated groups via exploring the connections between algebraic properties of such groups and topological and geometric properties of spaces on which these group ...

Education and early life

Bridson is a native of the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. He was educated at St Ninian's High School, Douglas, then

, and

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 ...

, receiving a Master of Arts degree from Oxford in 1986, and a Master of Science degree in 1988 followed by a PhD in 1991 from Cornell. His PhD thesis was supervised by Karen Vogtmann, and was entitled ''Geodesics and Curvature in Metric Simplicial Complexes''.

Career and research

He was an assistant professor 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 ...

until 1996, was twice a visiting professor 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 ...

(1992 and 2006), and was Professor of Mathematics at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

from 2002 to 2007. From 1993 to 2002 he was a Tutorial Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, and Reader (1996) then Professor of Topology (2000) in the University of Oxford. He remains a Supernumerary Fellow of Pembroke College. In 2016, Bridson became only the second Manxman to ever be elected to the Royal Society, after Edward Forbes. In 2020, he was elected to

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 ...

. With

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 ...

, he won the 2020 Steele Prize for Mathematical Exposition for the highly influential book ''Metric Spaces of Non-positive Curvature'', published by Springer-Verlag in 1999.

Honours and awards

Bridson was an invited lecturer 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 2006. * 2016 Elected a

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 ...

. * 2014 Elected a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

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, ...

. * 1999 Whitehead Prize * 2012 Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award * 2020 Elected Member of Academia Europaea * 2020 Steele Prize of the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridson, Martin 1964 births Living people People educated at St Ninian's High School, Douglas Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford 20th-century British mathematicians 21st-century British mathematicians Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford Fellows of Pembroke College, Oxford Statutory Professors of the University of Oxford Whitehead Prize winners Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Fellows of the Royal Society People from Douglas, Isle of Man Members of Academia Europaea