John T. Tate *50

John Tate, winner of the world’s top prizes in mathematics and regental professor emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin, died Oct. 16, 2019, at age 94.

Tate graduated from Harvard in 1946 and earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton in 1950. He went on to teach at Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, and Texas.

He received the 2010 Abel Prize in mathematics. When the committee of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters awarded him the Abel Prize, it stated, “Many of the major lines of research in algebraic number theory and arithmetic geometry are only possible because of the incisive contributions and illuminating insights of John Tate.”

Tate also received the prestigious Wolf Prize in 2002 and was a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His involvement in sophisticated mathematics led to several concepts bearing his name: the Tate module, the Tate curve, the Tate conjecture, and others.

He is survived by his wife, Carol P. MacPherson, whom he married in 1988; three daughters from his first marriage to Karen Artin; six grandchildren; and one great-grandson.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.