Zinovy Reichstein (born 1961) is a Russian-born 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 ...

. He is a professor at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. He studies mainly

algebra Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...

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 ...

and

algebraic groups In mathematics, an algebraic group is an algebraic variety endowed with a group structure that is compatible with its structure as an algebraic variety. Thus the study of algebraic groups belongs both to algebraic geometry and group theory. Many ...

. He introduced (with Joe P. Buhler) the concept of

essential dimension In mathematics, essential dimension is an invariant defined for certain algebraic structures such as algebraic groups and quadratic forms. It was introduced by J. Buhler and Z. Reichstein and in its most generality defined by A. Merkurjev. Basi ...

Early life and education

In high school, Reichstein participated in the national mathematics olympiad in Russia and was the third highest scorer in 1977 and second highest scorer in 1978. Because of the

Antisemitism in the Soviet Union The February Revolution in Russia officially ended a centuries-old regime of antisemitism in the Russian Empire, legally abolishing the Pale of Settlement. However, the previous legacy of antisemitism was continued and furthered by the Soviet s ...

at the time, Reichstein was not accepted to Moscow University, even though he had passed the special math entrance exams. He attended a semester of college at

Russian University of Transport The Russian University of Transport (RUT (MIIT); ), officially the Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education "Russian University of transport" () is a public university founded in 1896 and headquartered in Moscow, Russia. Along wit ...

instead. His family then decided to emigrate, arriving in Vienna, Austria, in August 1979 and New York, United States in the fall of 1980. Reichstein worked as a delivery boy for a short period of time in New York. He was then accepted to and attended

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

for his undergraduate studies. Reichstein received his

PhD degree A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1988 from

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 ...

under the supervision of

Michael Artin Michael Artin (; born 28 June 1934) is an American mathematician and a professor emeritus in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mathematics Department, known for his contributions to algebraic geometry.

. Parts of his thesis entitled "The Behavior of Stability under Equivariant Maps" were published in the journal ''

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 (2023) managing ...

''.

Career

As of 2011, he is on the editorial board of the mathematics journal ''Transformation groups''.

Awards

*Winner of the 2013 Jeffery-Williams Prize awarded by the

Canadian Mathematical Society The Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS; French: ''Société mathématique du Canada'') is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to advancing mathematical research, outreach, scholarship and education in Canada. The Society se ...

*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, ...

, 2012List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
retrieved 2013-06-09. *Invited Speaker to 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 ...

(

Hyderabad, India Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

2010)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reichstein, Zinovy Algebraists Harvard University alumni 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Living people Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Place of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the American Mathematical Society 1961 births