Math professor granted distinguished fellowship

Many previous award winners became Nobel Prize recipients

By Deborah Meron

A Northwestern assistant professor of mathematics will join 116 of the nation’s top scientists and economists as a recipient of the prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship.

Roman Bezrukavnikov, 31, will receive a grant of $40,000 from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation over the next two years.

He was awarded the grant for his research in “representation theory,” an area of algebra he cites as his expertise.

“This will help his research and bring visibility to Northwestern,” said NU mathematics Prof. Jeff Xia, a former Sloan Research Fellow.

Bezrukavnikov said he appreciated that the award would allow him more time for research but added, “it’s not something to change the course of your life.”

He said he plans to take a leave of absence next year and teach at Hebrew University in Jerusalem but said he will likely return to NU and continue teaching.

Twenty-eight former Sloan Fellows have gone on to receive Nobel Prizes and hundreds have received other distinguished awards and honors.

More than 500 nominations were reviewed by a Sloan Foundation committee of 17 professors from renowned colleges and universities. Candidates were nominated by department chairpersons and senior scholars who have recognized the promise of these young scholars.

The committee announced the recipients on March 5, based on their potential to make significant contributions in their fields.

Grant winners this year hail from 51 colleges and universities nationwide. Their research lies at the forefront of fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, economics and mathematics.

The Sloan Research Fellowship Program, one of the oldest fellowship programs in the country, began in 1955 to offer support for young scholars’ research at a time in their careers when it is difficult to obtain funding.

Bezrukavnikov said he will use his grant money toward developing his work in representation theory, the study of “abstract structures of symmetries and the representation of those structures.”

Born in Kaluga, Russia, Bezrukavnikov moved on to pursue math in Moscow, Boston, Israel, New Jersey and Chicago.

Bezrukavnikov attended School No. 57, a well-known mathematics magnet high school in Moscow where he was a member of the Mathematics Olympics.

“This high school really determines your outcome,” Bezrukanikov said. “It instilled the idea that math is one of the most important and beautiful things in life.”

After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Moscow State University, Bezrukanikov obtained his master’s degree in mathematics from Brandeis University. He began studying representation theory while working towards his doctorate at Tel Aviv University in Israel.

He then returned to the United States to do research at the Princeton Institute of Advanced Studies and at the University of Chicago.

Since coming to NU in 2003, he has continued his work on representation theory while teaching undergraduate and graduate algebra classes.

Xia, Bezrukanikov’s colleague in the math department, said the Sloan Fellowship has been a stepping stone for many of the mathematicians that went on to receive the Fields Medal, the Nobel Prize of mathematics.

NU Mathematics Prof. Keith Burns joked, “This affirms our suspicion that (Bezrukavnikov) is good.”