Aug. 8, 2014
Professor Adrian Nachman has been appointed a Fellow of the Fields Institute for his significant contributions to the Institute and the Canadian mathematical community. Professor Nachman, a faculty member of both The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and the Department of Mathematics, is known for his work on inverse problems and medical imaging.
“It’s been a passion my whole life to change people’s perceptions about mathematics, which is both amazingly beautiful and amazingly useful,” said Professor Nachman. [Watch Professor Nachman speak about highlights of his career]
From January to August 2012 he served as lead organizer of an eight-month Fields Thematic Program on Inverse Problems and Imaging, an event that featured 21 graduate and short courses given by world experts on a variety of state-of-the art methods, a series of three distinguished lectures by Emmanuel Candes of Stanford University, a summer research school on medical imaging, and an industrial problem solving workshop
“Many of the best people in the world come through these thematic programs,” said Professor Nachman. “During that period of time, this is the place to be in the world. If the top people in in the field are going to be here, you want to be here too.”
The Fields Institute is a centre for mathematical research supported by NSERC, the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, and its eight sponsoring universities. It aims to foster collaboration between mathematicians and those using math in related disciplines, such as engineering, the physical and biological sciences, medicine, economics, finance and more. Since 1995 Fields has been housed on the University of Toronto’s St. George campus. “I’m a great fan of Fields,” said Professor Nachman. “It’s a place that facilitates research at highest level and interaction between disciplines—people from outside of mathematics are interested in coming here. I believe that it adds immeasurably to the intellectual landscape of Toronto.”
Concomitant to the Thematic Program on Inverse Problems and Imaging, from June 2011 to August 2012, Professor Nachman co-organized a MITACS International Focus Period on the Mathematics of Medical Imaging. The Fields and MITACS programs were both kicked off with a major joint conference on the U of T campus, and were very well received by researchers worldwide.”These programs have changed my research,” said Professor Nachman. “I am pursuing new directions of research that resulted from this year of intense activities…and I know I’m not the only one.”
More information:
Marit Mitchell
Senior Communications Officer
The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
416-978-7997; marit.mitchell@utoronto.ca