16/01/2018

Watch Étienne Ghys's Plenary Conference at 2006 ICM

The French mathematician Étienne Ghys is one of the world’s leading mathematicians in the promotion of Mathematics to larger audiences. That was why he was the first winner of the Clay Award for Dissemination of Mathematical Knowledge. He has a remarkable career in research and has published outstanding work in geometry and dynamical systems and was a plenary speaker at the 1990 ICM, in Kyoto.

Étienne is a CNRS Directeur de recherche at the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon and is also an honorary Researcher at IMPA (Institute for Pure and Aplied Mathematics). Étienne’s mathematical interests are broad and he can talk about Math in a deep and charming way, captivating and entertaining large audiences speaking both to high level researchers as well as performing in public lectures. In Rio’s 2017 Math Festival, his lecture on Math and Fashion was extremely successful. For such talent in promoting Math, he has become a legend.

He has also produced a series of online films on Math, “Dimensions”, which have been downloaded million of times in ten languages and have been awarded.

A member of the prestigious French Academy of Sciences, Ghys was a member of the program committee for the 2010 ICM, in Hyderabad, and a member of the Fields Medal committee in 2014.

Étienne has a deep connection with Brazil and particularly with IMPA, where he did his coopération service (an alternative to military service for highly selected science students) from 1979 to 1981. Ever since he has become a close friend of Brazilian Math and has an honorary position at IMPA.

Watch his presentation at the 25th International Congress of Mathematicians in Madrid, Spain, in 2006, here: