University leaders came together to honor a UF mathematics professor Thursday for winning an award deemed the "Nobel Prize of mathematics."
John Thompson was notified Thursday morning by the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters that he had received the Abel Prize of Mathematics, an award that recognizes outstanding work in mathematics worldwide.
Thompson's work focuses on group theory, a branch of algebra. He shares the $1.2 million award with College de France Professor Jacques Tits.
UF President Bernie Machen, Provost Janie Fouke and Joe Glover, interim dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, praised Thompson for his work and achievements during a celebration at the Keene Faculty Center Thursday afternoon.
In an interview following the ceremony, Thompson modestly described his award as a "nice thing."
Thompson also won the Fields Medal, another high-ranking mathematics award in 1970. Its recipients must be younger than 40.
Collaborating with Walter Feit of Cornell University, Thompson also solved the "odd order" problem in 1963, which filled an entire issue, or 253 pages, of the Pacific Journal of Mathematics.
Thompson will travel to the Norway's capital, Oslo, to formally receive his prize May 20.
"It's a great pleasure to be able to go to Norway," he said, adding that his wife, Diane, is Norwegian.
He said he would first use his prize money to pay for his daughter and two grandsons, who live in London, to attend the ceremony.
Even after winning the two most prestigious awards in mathematics, Thompson, who is 75, said he wasn't ready to "hang up his spurs."
"There are still many things to think about," he said. "One foot after the other."
In an interview before the event, Krishna Alladi, chairman of the Department of Mathematics, described Thompson's accomplishment as the highest academic achievement in UF history.
The award would also bring world recognition to UF's math department, Alladi said.
"This sort of recognition to one of its members is a crowning achievement, which sort of catapults the department in the eyes of the world," he said.
Machen said Thompson's success exacerbated UF's "national-championship exuberance," although his award was greater than any sports game.
