A display case featuring awards received by Palis is unveiled at IMPA
On Monday (the 2Wednesdays), a display case was unveiled at IMPA headquarters featuring the major awards received by Jacob Palis (1940–2025) throughout his career. The tribute took place on the first day of the “International Conference on Dynamical Systems” (International Conference on Dynamical Systems), dedicated to the memory of the mathematician and former director of IMPA.
Among his honors are: the Henrique Morize Medal; the Spirit of Abdus Salam Award; Officer of the Legion of Honor—French Republic; the TWAS Prize; the Grand Cross of Scientific Merit; the Almirante Álvaro Alberto Prize; the Carlos Chagas Medal for Scientific Merit; the Conrado Wessel Prize; as well as honorary doctorates from leading international universities. Click here to view information about all the awards. Alongside the exhibition, photos showing key moments in Palis’s career are displayed on a television screen.
Another memorable moment took place in front of the office Palis occupied at the Institute from 1981 to 2025. In front of the conference participants, IMPA Director-General Marcelo Viana and Suely Lima—Palis’s widow and the Institute’s scientific events coordinator—unveiled a plaque in honor of the mathematician. The office will now be occupied by Artur Avila, a distinguished researcher at IMPA and professor at the University of Zurich, who is Palis’s academic grandson and a 2014 Fields Medalist.
“Jacob was very kind and very generous. I’d like to thank everyone, especially Marcelo, who organized this International Conference. I’m very happy to be here, to work at IMPA, and to share this moment with everyone,” said Suely.
Viana Announces the Creation of the Jacob Palis Medal
The day, marked by excitement, also featured a special announcement by IMPA’s director-general: the creation of the Jacob Palis Medal. Intended for young mathematicians from Latin American countries, the award is the result of a donation received by the Institute.
“The award will be launched next year and was designed based on Jacob’s own ideas for recognizing young Latin American mathematicians. It will be presented at the Brazilian Mathematics Colloquium every two years,” explained Viana. More details about the award will be announced shortly.
The speech by the director of IMPA concluded the roundtable in honor of Palis at the Conference. Researchers Alberto Verjovsky (UNAM), Harold Rosenberg (Paris 7), Rafael Labarca (University of Santiago de Chile), and Roberto Markarian (UDELAR) shared personal and professional memories from their long association with Palis. His importance to the field of Dynamical Systems was highlighted, as were the numerous honors he received throughout his career.
In IMPA’s main auditorium and hallways, friends, research colleagues, and those close to Palis shared stories and memories.
“One of the things I’d like to emphasize is that Jacob always thought about young people. He saw students as equals. He truly enjoyed the idea that the students he taught would one day share his vision and his passion for mathematics. What he really wanted to know was that one day, all of these students would become mathematicians and work together,” noted the UFRJ researcher and conference speaker Maria José Pacífico, a UFRJ researcher and speaker at the conference.
“I thought the tribute was very important and very beautiful because this is where he worked, and this way his contributions remain visible to the young people who are coming here and who haven’t had the opportunity to experience his greatness,” said Raquel Saraiva, who holds a Ph.D. from UFMG.
“This is a very special moment. My academic life has basically all taken place here in Rio de Janeiro; even though I attended UFRJ, IMPA has an impact on Rio’s other universities. Palis is internationally recognized. I was a student of Maria José Pacífico and grew academically through their stories—and through how they contributed to mathematics in Brazil and the Dynamic Systems group,” explained Jennyffer Bohorquez, a professor at UFRJ.