Étienne Ghys

Étienne Ghys’s research focuses mainly on geometry and dynamical systems, although his mathematical interests are much broader; He was also interested in the historical development of mathematical ideas and their dissemination in alternative forms. His view of mathematics was profoundly influenced by a long postdoctoral stay at IMPA in Rio de Janeiro, followed by many shorter visits to Brazil.

He is currently “directeur de recherche” of the CNRS at the École normale supérieure de Lyon and also “secrétaire perpétuel” of the French Academy of Sciences. Ghys was an invited speaker at the International Congresses of Mathematicians (ICM) in Kyoto (1990), Seoul (2014) and Rio de Janeiro (2018), and a plenary speaker at ICM in Madrid in 2006. He is also co-author of two mathematical computer graphics films: “Dimensions” and “Chaos”. In 2015, he was awarded the inaugural Clay Prize for the Dissemination of Mathematical Knowledge.