Robert Duncan MacPherson (born May 25, 1944) is an American mathematician at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

. He is best known for the invention of intersection homology with

Mark Goresky Robert Mark Goresky is a Canadian mathematician who invented intersection homology with his advisor and life partner Robert MacPherson. Career Goresky received his Ph.D. from Brown University in 1976. His thesis, titled ''Geometric Cohomology ...

, whose thesis he directed at Brown University, and who became his life partner. MacPherson previously taught at Brown University, the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

, and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...

. In 1983 he gave a plenary address 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 Nevanlinna Prize (to be rename ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

Education and career

Educated at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a private liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeducational colleges in the United States. It was established as ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, MacPherson received his PhD from Harvard in 1970. His thesis, written under the direction of

Raoul Bott Raoul Bott (September 24, 1923 – December 20, 2005) was a Hungarian- American mathematician known for numerous basic contributions to geometry in its broad sense. He is best known for his Bott periodicity theorem, the Morse–Bott functions whi ...

, was entitled ''Singularities of Maps and Characteristic Classes''. Among his many PhD students are

Kari Vilonen Kari Kaleva Vilonen (born 1955) is a Finnish mathematician, specializing in geometric representation theory. He is currently a professor at the University of Melbourne. Education He received in 1983 his Ph.D from Brown University under Robert ...

and

Honors and awards

In 1992, MacPherson was awarded the NAS Award in Mathematics from the

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 Nat ...

. In 2002 he and Goresky were awarded the

Leroy P. Steele Prize The Leroy P. Steele Prizes are awarded every year by the American Mathematical Society, for distinguished research work and writing in the field of mathematics. Since 1993, there has been a formal division into three categories. The prizes have ...

for Seminal Contribution to Research by 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 ...

. In 2009 he received the Heinz Hopf Prize from

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , a ...

. In 2012 he became a fellow of the

.List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
retrieved February 2, 2013.

Personal

MacPherson's PhD advisee, Mark Goresky, later became his life partner. Their discovery of intersection homology made "both of them famous." After the collapse of the Soviet Union, they were instrumental in channeling aid to Russian mathematicians, especially many who had to hide their sexuality.

Selected publications

* Goresky, Mark; MacPherson, Robert, ''La dualité de Poincaré pour les espaces singuliers'', C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris Sér. A-B 284 (1977), no. 24, A1549–A1551. * Goresky, Mark; MacPherson, Robert, ''Intersection homology theory'',

Topology In mathematics, topology (from the Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing ho ...

19 (1980), no. 2, 135–162. * Goresky, Mark; MacPherson, Robert, ''Intersection homology. II'',

Inventiones Mathematicae ''Inventiones Mathematicae'' is a mathematical journal published monthly by Springer Science+Business Media. It was established in 1966 and is regarded as one of the most prestigious mathematics journals in the world. The current managing editors ...

72 (1983), no. 1, 77–129.

References

External links

*
IAS page, including links to publications and CVThe work of Robert MacPherson
20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Topologists Swarthmore College alumni Institute for Advanced Study faculty Brown University faculty Academic staff of the University of Paris Harvard University alumni People from Lakewood, Ohio 1944 births Living people Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Mathematicians from Ohio LGBT mathematicians {{US-mathematician-stub