Oded Schramm *90

Born in Israel, Schramm received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Hebrew University. In 1990, he earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton. Schramm worked at the University of California, San Diego until 1992, when he went to the Weizmann Institute in Israel. In 1999, he joined the Theory Group of Microsoft Research in Redmond, Wash.

According to Princeton mathematical physics professor Michael Aizenman, “Oded was an extraordinary mathematician who transformed our understanding of critical processes in two dimensions through his introduction of the stochastic Loewner evaluation, tying probability to complex analysis in a completely novel way. He also made fundamental contributions to circle packings, random spanning trees, percolation, noise sensitivity of Boolean functions, random permutations, and metric geometry.”  

Schramm received seven major math prizes. In 2008, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Along with his accomplishments in mathematics, Schramm was also noted for his humility and collegial attitude toward friends and associates.  

He is survived by his wife, Avivit; and two young children, Tselil and Pele.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.