Günter Matthias Ziegler (born 19 May 1963) is a German mathematician who has been serving as president of the Free University of Berlin since 2018. Ziegler is known for his research in

discrete mathematics Discrete mathematics is the study of mathematical structures that can be considered "discrete" (in a way analogous to discrete variables, having a bijection with the set of natural numbers) rather than "continuous" (analogously to continuous f ...

and geometry, and particularly on the combinatorics of polytopes.

Biography

Ziegler studied at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

from 1981 to 1984, and went on to receive his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1987, under the supervision of Anders Björner. After postdoctoral positions at the University of Augsburg and the

Mittag-Leffler Institute The Mittag-Leffler Institute is a mathematical research institute located in Djursholm, a suburb of Stockholm. It invites scholars to participate in half-year programs in specialized mathematical subjects. The Institute is run by the Royal Swe ...

, he received his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

in 1992 from the

Technical University of Berlin The Technical University of Berlin (official name both in English and german: link=no, Technische Universität Berlin, also known as TU Berlin and Berlin Institute of Technology) is a public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was ...

, which he joined as a professor in 1995. Ziegler has since joined the faculty of the Free University of Berlin.

Awards and honors

Ziegler was awarded the one million Deutschmark by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in 1994 and the 1.5 million Deutschmark

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (german: link=no, Förderpreis für deutsche Wissenschaftler im Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Programm der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft), in short Leibniz Prize, is awarded by the German Research Foundation to ...

, Germany's highest research honor, by the DFG in 2001. He was awarded the 2005 Gauss Lectureship by the German Mathematical Society. In 2006 the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure a ...

awarded Ziegler and Florian Pfender its highest honor for mathematical exposition, the

Chauvenet Prize The Chauvenet Prize is the highest award for mathematical expository writing. It consists of a prize of $1,000 and a certificate, and is awarded yearly by the Mathematical Association of America in recognition of an outstanding expository article ...

, for their paper on kissing numbers.January 2006 prizes and awards
American Mathematical Society. In 2006 Ziegler became president of the German Mathematical Society for a two-year term. In 2009, the

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

(ERC) awarded Ziegler one of the ERC Advanced Grants in the amount of 1.85 million Euros. In 2012 he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society. In 2013 Ziegler was granted the

Hector Science Award In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

and became a member of the Hector Fellow Academy. Since 2016 Ziegler has been chair of the

Berlin Mathematical School The Berlin Mathematical School (BMS) is a joint graduate school of the three renowned mathematics departments of the public research universities in Berlin: ''Freie Universität Berlin'', ''Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin'', and ''Technische ...

. In 2018 he received the Leroy P. Steele Prize for Mathematical Exposition (jointly with

Martin Aigner Martin Aigner (born February 28, 1942 in Linz) is an Austrian mathematician and professor at Freie Universität Berlin since 1974 with interests in combinatorial mathematics and graph theory. He received his Ph.D from the University of Vienna. Hi ...

) for ''Proofs from THE BOOK''.

Other activities

* Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2020) * German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), member of the board of trustees (since 2018) * Genshagener Kreis, member of the board of trustees (since 2018) * Einstein Foundation Berlin, Member of the Council * Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), member of the supervisory board * Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), member of the board of trustees (since 2018) *

Klaus Tschira Foundation The Klaus Tschira Stiftung (KTS) is a German foundation established by the physicist Klaus Tschira in 1995 as a non-profit organization. Its primary objective is to support projects in the natural and computer sciences as well as mathematics. The ...

, member of the board of trustees (since 2017) * Urania, Member of the BoardBoard
Urania.

Selected publications

*; 6th ed, 2018. * . *

References

External links