Bill Text: NY J02350 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Honoring Dr. Dennis P. Sullivan upon the occasion of his designation as recipient of the 2022 Abel Prize for Mathematics by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-05-10 - ADOPTED [J02350 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-J02350-Introduced.html

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Senate Resolution No. 2350

BY: Senator PALUMBO

        HONORING  Dr. Dennis P. Sullivan upon the occasion
        of his designation as recipient  of  the  2022  Abel
        Prize  for  Mathematics  by the Norwegian Academy of
        Science and Letters

  WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative  Body  that  those  who
enhance the quality of life in their community and have shown a long and
sustained  commitment  to  the  maintenance  of  high standards in their
profession, certainly have earned the recognition and  applause  of  all
the citizens of this great Empire State; and

  WHEREAS,  Attendant  to  such  concern,  and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to honor
Dr.   Dennis P.  Sullivan  upon  the  occasion  of  his  designation  as
recipient  of  the  2022  Abel  Prize  for  Mathematics by the Norwegian
Academy of Science and Letters; His Majesty King Harald will  officially
present  the  Prize  at  a ceremony in Oslo, Norway, on Tuesday, May 24,
2022; and

  WHEREAS, The Abel Prize is named after Niels Henrik  Abel,  Norway's
greatest  mathematician,  who  left  lasting  marks  on the mathematical
world; his mathematics have served as a  base  for  a  number  of  major
technological  breakthroughs, including the development of the internet;
it was established by the Norwegian Parliament (The Storting)  in  2002,
on the 200th Anniversary of Abel's birth; and

  WHEREAS,  Professor Dennis P. Sullivan earned this prestigious award
for his groundbreaking contributions to topology in its broadest  sense,
and  in  particular  its  algebraic, geometric and dynamical aspects; he
will be awarded 7.5 million Norwegian kroner, nearly US $860,000, funded
by the Norwegian government; and

  WHEREAS, Dr. Dennis Parnell Sullivan is a distinguished professor in
the College of Arts and Sciences  Department  of  Mathematics,  and  the
Albert  Einstein  Chair  in  Science  (Mathematics) at the CUNY Graduate
Center; and

  WHEREAS, This auspicious prize honors brilliant  mathematicians  who
inspire  curiosity  and  drive imagination; Professor Dennis P. Sullivan
has  made  outstanding  scientific  contributions  to   the   field   of
mathematics  throughout  his  illustrious career, and has had a positive
impact on the students he has mentored; and

  WHEREAS, Throughout his decades-long profession as a  mathematician,
Dr.  Dennis P. Sullivan has found deep connections between many areas of
mathematics;  one of his most important breakthroughs includes a new way
of understanding rational  homotopy  theory,  a  subfield  of  algebraic
topology;  topology  has  been  invaluable  throughout  mathematics  and
beyond, with significant applications in fields ranging from physics  to
economics to data science; and

  WHEREAS,  In  the  late 1970s, Professor Dennis P. Sullivan began to
work on problems in dynamical systems, the study of a point moving in  a

geometrical space, a field usually considered far removed from algebraic
topology;  the ability of computers to iterate functions beyond what was
humanly possible had created an explosion of  interest  in  this  field,
known  popularly  as "chaos theory," since many of the dynamical systems
exhibited chaotic behavior; among his most  important  contributions  to
this  field is the proof of the universality law for period doubling for
a large class of dynamical systems; and

  WHEREAS, One of the most accomplished mathematicians of our age, Dr.
Dennis P.  Sullivan  approaches  mathematics  with  the  enthusiasm  and
curiosity  of  a  child  first  realizing the wonders of this incredible
field; he has proudly shared  his  passion  for  mathematics  with  many
generations of both students and colleagues; and

  WHEREAS, Among Professor Dennis P. Sullivan's significant results in
topology is his proof of the Adams conjecture, and in dynamical systems,
he  proved  that  rational  maps  have  no  wandering domains, solving a
60-year-old  conjecture;   his   insistent   probing   for   fundamental
understanding and his capacity to see analogues between diverse areas of
mathematics,  and  build  bridges  between them, has forever changed the
field; and

  WHEREAS, Professor Dennis P. Sullivan has been an esteemed member of
the Graduate Center's faculty for more than 40 years; during that  time,
he  has  not only solved problems, he has opened new avenues of research
that scholars will explore for years to come; and

  WHEREAS, In 1999, Dr. Dennis P. Sullivan and Moira  Chas,  associate
professor  in  the Department of Mathematics, discovered a new invariant
for a manifold based on loops, creating the field of string topology, an
area that has grown rapidly in recent years; and

  WHEREAS, Dennis P. Sullivan received his PhD in 1966 from  Princeton
University;  that same year, he was awarded a NATO Fellowship at Warwick
University in England, after which he earned a Miller Fellowship at  the
University  of  California  at  Berkeley  from 1967-1969 and went to the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology as The Sloan Fellow of Mathematics
from 1969-1973; and

  WHEREAS, He then spent the 1973-1974  academic  year  in  France  as
professeur associe at the University of Paris-Orsay and in 1974 became a
permanent professor at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques; and

  WHEREAS,  In  1981, he was appointed to the Albert Einstein Chair in
Science (Mathematics) at the CUNY Graduate Center, a role that continues
to this day, and worked jointly with  the  Institut  des  Hautes  Etudes
Scientifiques until 1996 when he joined the faculty of the Department of
Mathematics at Stony Brook University; and

  WHEREAS, Professor Dennis P. Sullivan was elected as a member of the
United States National Academy of Sciences in 1983, corresponding member
of  the Brazilian National Academy of Sciences that same year, member of
the New York Academy of Sciences in 1984, fellow of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences in 1991, corresponding member of  the  Irish  Royal
Society  in 2012, and honorary member of the London Mathematical Society
in 2013; furthermore, he  served  as  vice  president  of  the  American
Mathematical Society from 1990 until 1993; and

  WHEREAS,  The recipient of numerous awards and accolades, Dr. Dennis
P.  Sullivan received the 1970 Oswald Veblen Prize in Geometry, the 1981
Elie Cartan Prize in Geometry, the 1994 King Faisal International  Prize
for  Science,  the 1996 Gold Medal of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences,
the  2004  United  States National Medal of Science, the 2006 AMS Steele
Prize for Lifetime Achievement, the 2010 Wolf Prize in Mathematics,  and
the 2014 Balzan Prize for Mathematics; and

  WHEREAS,  It  is  the  custom  of  this  Legislative  Body that when
individuals of such noble aims and accomplishments are  brought  to  our
attention,  they should be celebrated and recognized by all the citizens
of this great Empire State; now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
honor  Dr.  Dennis  P.  Sullivan upon the occasion of his designation as
recipient of the 2022  Abel  Prize  for  Mathematics  by  the  Norwegian
Academy of Science and Letters; and be it further

  RESOLVED,  That  a  copy  of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to Dr. Dennis P. Sullivan.