Five Winners Receive Inaugural Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics

San Francisco (ots/PRNewswire) -

Art Levinson Steps Down as Chair of Breakthrough Prize in Life
Sciences

Foundation, Succeeded by Cori Bargmann

Online Nominations For 2015 Breakthrough Prizes in Fundamental
Physics and

Life Sciences are Open Through June 30, 2014

The Breakthrough Prize Foundation announces five winners of the
inaugural Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics:

Simon Donaldson, Stony Brook University and Imperial College
London, for the new revolutionary invariants of 4-dimensional
manifolds and for the study of the relation between stability in
algebraic geometry and in global differential geometry, both for
bundles and for Fano varieties.

Maxim Kontsevich, Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques, for
work making a deep impact in a vast variety of mathematical
disciplines, including algebraic geometry, deformation theory,
symplectic topology, homological algebra and dynamical systems.

Jacob Lurie, Harvard University, for his work on the foundations
of higher category theory and derived algebraic geometry; for the
classification of fully extended topological quantum field theories;
and for providing a moduli-theoretic interpretation of elliptic
cohomology.

Terence Tao, University of California, Los Angeles, for numerous
breakthrough contributions to harmonic analysis, combinatorics,
partial differential equations and analytic number theory.

Richard Taylor, Institute for Advanced Study, for numerous
breakthrough results in the theory of automorphic forms, including
the Taniyama-Weil conjecture, the local Langlands conjecture for
general linear groups, and the Sato-Tate conjecture.

The Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics was launched by Mark
Zuckerberg and Yuri Milner at the Breakthrough Prize ceremony last
December. It aims to recognize major advances in the field, honor the
world's best mathematicians, support their future endeavors and
communicate the excitement of mathematics to general public.

The laureates will be presented with their trophies and $3 million
each at the Breakthrough Prize ceremony in November.

All five recipients of the Prize have agreed to serve on the
Selection Committee, responsible for choosing subsequent winners of
the prize from the pool of contenders nominated by the mathematics
community. From 2015 onwards, one Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics
will be awarded every year.

Mark Zuckerberg said: "Mathematics is essential for driving human
progress and innovation in this century. This year's Breakthrough
Prize winners have made huge contributions to the field and we're
excited to celebrate their efforts."

Yuri Milner commented: "Mathematics is the most fundamental of the
sciences - the language they are all written in. The best
mathematical minds benefit us all by expanding the sphere of human
knowledge."

Online Nominations

Online nominations are now open for the 2015 Breakthrough Prizes
in Life Sciences and Fundamental Physics, and can be submitted until
June 30. The nomination form and the rules are available at
http://www.breakthroughprize.org.

Any individual can submit an online nomination but
self-nominations are not allowed.

Each year, up to six Breakthrough Prizes in Life Sciences are
awarded. The prize honors transformative advances toward
understanding living systems and extending human life. One prize per
year is for work contributing to the understanding of Parkinson's
disease. Each laureate receives $3 million.

The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics recognizes major
insights into the deepest questions of the Universe. The winner
receives $3 million, and the prize can be split between several
scientists.

Art Levinson steps down as Chairman of Breakthrough Prize in Life
Sciences Foundation, succeeded by Cori Bargmann

Art Levinson has announced his retirement from the chairmanship of
the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences Foundation Board. Levinson,
who has steered the Foundation from its inception in 2013, is
stepping down due to the time requirements of his work as CEO of
Calico. He will be succeeded by Cori Bargmann, a leading
neurobiologist at Rockefeller University and one of the inaugural
winners of the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.

Art Levinson remarked: "It's been a real privilege, as well as a
lot of fun, to help get the Breakthrough Prize up and running. The
prize has already surpassed our expectations, and I'm looking forward
to seeing it develop as it continues its vital work bringing the
workings of life and the fight against disease to the forefront of
public consciousness."

Cori Bargmann said: "I'm honored to have the chance to chair the
Foundation - especially to take over from Art, who's been
inspirational. Thanks in no small part to him, the Breakthrough Prize
has become a significant landmark in the world of science. If you
think someone in your field deserves it, I'd encourage you to submit
an online nomination now."

About the Breakthrough Prizes

The Breakthrough Prizes were founded by Sergey Brin and Anne
Wojcicki, Jack Ma and Cathy Zhang, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Mark
Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan. The prizes aim to celebrate scientists
and generate excitement about the pursuit of science as a career.

Laureates of each prize are chosen by its respective Selection
Committee, comprising previous recipients of the prize.

The Selection Committee for the 2015 Breakthrough Prize in
Fundamental Physics includes:

- Nima Arkani-Hamed
- Lyn Evans
- Fabiola Gianotti
- Michael B. Green
- Alan Guth
- Stephen Hawking
- Joseph Incandela
- Alexei Kitaev
- Maxim Kontsevich
- Andrei Linde
- Juan Maldacena
- Alexander Polyakov
- Nathan Seiberg
- Ashoke Sen
- John H. Schwarz
- Edward Witten

The Selection Committee for the 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Life
Sciences includes:

- James P. Allison
- Cornelia I. Bargmann
- David Botstein
- Lewis C. Cantley
- Hans Clevers
- Titia de Lange
- Mahlon R. DeLong
- Napoleone Ferrara
- Michael N. Hall
- Eric S. Lander
- Robert Langer
- Richard P. Lifton
- Charles L. Sawyers
- Alexander Varshavsky
- Bert Vogelstein
- Robert A. Weinberg
- Shinya Yamanaka

Additional information on the Breakthrough Prizes is available at
http://www.breakthroughprize.org.

For additional inquiries, contact Media@breakthroughprize.org.
Contact:
Leonid Solovyev
Media@breakthroughprize.org
+44(0)75-909-76-334

ots Originaltext: Breakthrough Prize Foundation
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