Robert Duncan MacPherson (born May 25, 1944) is an American mathematician at the Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton University. He is best known for the invention of intersection homology with

Mark Goresky Robert Mark Goresky is a Canadian mathematician who invented intersection homology with his advisor and life partner Robert MacPherson. Career Goresky received his Ph.D. from Brown University in 1976. His thesis, titled ''Geometric Cohomology a ...

, whose thesis he directed at Brown University, and who became his life partner. MacPherson previously taught at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, the University of Paris, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1983 he gave a plenary address at the

International Congress of Mathematicians The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU). The Fields Medals, the Nevanlinna Prize (to be rename ...

in Warsaw.

Education and career

Educated at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

and Harvard University, MacPherson received his PhD from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1970. His thesis, written under the direction of Raoul Bott, was entitled ''Singularities of Maps and Characteristic Classes''. Among his many PhD students are

Kari Vilonen Kari Kaleva Vilonen (born 1955) is a Finnish mathematician, specializing in geometric representation theory. He is currently a professor at the University of Melbourne. Education He received in 1983 his Ph.D from Brown University under Robert ...

and

Honors and awards

In 1992, MacPherson was awarded the

NAS Award in Mathematics The Maryam Mirzakhani Prize in Mathematics (ex-NAS Award in Mathematics until 2012) is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "for excellence of research in the mathematical sciences published within the past ten years." Named after the ...

from the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

. In 2002 he and Goresky were awarded the Leroy P. Steele Prize for Seminal Contribution to Research by the American Mathematical Society. In 2009 he received the

Heinz Hopf Prize The Heinz Hopf Prize is awarded every two years at ETH Zurich. The prize honours ''outstanding scientific work in the field of pure mathematics''. It is named after the German mathematician Heinz Hopf (1894–1971), Professor of Mathematics at ET ...

from

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

. In 2012 he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
retrieved February 2, 2013.

Personal

MacPherson's PhD advisee, Mark Goresky, later became his life partner. Their discovery of intersection homology made "both of them famous." After the collapse of the Soviet Union, they were instrumental in channeling aid to Russian mathematicians, especially many who had to hide their sexuality.

Selected publications

* Goresky, Mark; MacPherson, Robert, ''La dualité de Poincaré pour les espaces singuliers'', C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris Sér. A-B 284 (1977), no. 24, A1549–A1551. * Goresky, Mark; MacPherson, Robert, ''Intersection homology theory'', Topology 19 (1980), no. 2, 135–162. * Goresky, Mark; MacPherson, Robert, ''Intersection homology. II'',

Inventiones Mathematicae ''Inventiones Mathematicae'' is a mathematical journal published monthly by Springer Science+Business Media. It was established in 1966 and is regarded as one of the most prestigious mathematics journals in the world. The current managing editors ...

72 (1983), no. 1, 77–129.

References

External links

*
IAS page, including links to publications and CVThe work of Robert MacPherson
20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Topologists Swarthmore College alumni Institute for Advanced Study faculty Brown University faculty Academic staff of the University of Paris Harvard University alumni People from Lakewood, Ohio 1944 births Living people Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Mathematicians from Ohio LGBT mathematicians {{US-mathematician-stub