Oxford Mathematicians Martin Bridson and Yuji Nakatsukasa have been recognised in this year's London Mathematical Society (LMS) awards. Martin wins the prestigious Polya Prize for his foundational contributions to the field of geometric group theory and his exceptional service to the mathematical community. Yuji has been awarded the Whitehead Prize for his significant and wide-ranging contributions to numerical analysis, especially in numerical linear algebra and approximation theory.
Martin Bridson (pictured left) is Whitehead Professor of Pure Mathematics here in Oxford and President of the Clay Mathematics Institute which makes him the guardian of the $1m Millennium Prize Problems. His research interests lie at the interface of geometry, topology, and group theory. Diverse encapsulations of symmetry, quantifications of complexity, and notions of curvature provide unifying themes for much of his work. He is the recipient of many awards and is a Fellow of the Royal Society, only the second Manxman (a native of the Isle of Man) to be so recognised, and the American Mathematics Society. Educated in Oxford and Cornell, he has held positions in Princeton and Geneva and was Professor of Mathematics at Imperial College before returning to Oxford. He is a fellow of Magdalen College.
Yuji Nakatsukasa is a Professor here in Oxford Mathematics and a tutorial fellow at Christ Church College. His research focus is on numerical analysis, with emphasis on randomised algorithms and eigenvalue problems in numerical linear algebra and rational approximation theory. Prior to his current affiliation, he held positions at National Institute of Informatics in Japan, as well as Oxford, Tokyo, and Manchester. Yuji obtained his PhD in Applied Mathematics from UC Davis in 2011.