Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute

2025-10-03T20:41:23Z

62.18.99.58:

{{short description|Research institute}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox university
|name = Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute
|former_name = Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
|logo = Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute logo, 2022.svg
|image_name = MSRI front.jpg
|image_size = 250px
|caption = The MSRI entrance, May 2011
|established = {{Start date and age|1982}}
|type = [[501(c) organization#501(c)(3)|501(c)(3)]] [[nonprofit organization|nonprofit]] [[mathematical]] [[research institute]]
|endowment = $89 million (2022)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.msri.org/web/cms|title=Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute|website=msri.org}}</ref>
|founders = {{ubl|[[Shiing-Shen Chern]]|[[Calvin C. Moore|Calvin Moore]]|[[Isadore Singer|Isadore M. Singer]]}}
|director = [[Tatiana Toro]]
|address = 17 Gauss Way
|state = [[California]]
|city = Berkeley
|coor = {{coord|37.879799|-122.244294|region:US_type:edu|display=inline,title}}
|country = [[United States]]
|website = {{URL|slmath.org}}
}}

The '''Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute''' ('''SLMath'''), formerly the '''Mathematical Sciences Research Institute''' ('''MSRI'''), is an independent nonprofit [[mathematics|mathematical]] [[research institute|research institution]] on the [[University of California, Berkeley|University of California campus]] in [[Berkeley, California]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.msri.org/web/msri/for-visitors/directions|title=Mathematical Sciences Research Institute|last=MSRI|website=www.msri.org|access-date=2018-04-20}}</ref> It is a center for research in [[mathematics]]. Each year, over 1,700 mathematicians spend time at MSRI.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/12/06_chern.shtml|title=12.06.2004 - Renowned mathematician Shiing-Shen Chern, who revitalized the study of geometry, has died at 93 in Tianjin, China|website=www.berkeley.edu|access-date=2017-01-04}}</ref><ref name="mission">{{Cite web|url=http://www.msri.org/web/msri/about-msri/our-mission|title=MSRI Mission|last=MSRI|website=www.msri.org|access-date=2017-01-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ams.org/programs/diversity/ProgramDescription_MSRI_2012v2.pdf|title=Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bridgesmathart.org/mosaic/about-msri/|title= About MSRI|website=[[The Bridges Organization]] |access-date=2017-01-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.simonsfoundation.org/tag/msri/|title=MSRI |publisher=[[Simons Foundation]] |access-date=2017-01-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.simonsfoundation.org/features/foundation-news/17-gauss-way/|title=17 Gauss Way |publisher=Simons Foundation|access-date=2017-01-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=SLMath | url=https://www.slmath.org/our-mission }}</ref>

The institute was founded in 1982, and its funding sources include the [[National Science Foundation]], private foundations, corporations, and more than 90 universities and institutions.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.msri.org/web/msri/about-msri/history|title=Mathematical Sciences Research Institute|last=MSRI|website=www.msri.org|access-date=2018-04-20}}</ref><ref name="mission"/> The institute is located at 17 Gauss Way on the [[University of California, Berkeley|Berkeley]] campus, close to [[Grizzly Peak (Berkeley Hills)|Grizzly Peak]] in the [[Berkeley Hills]].<ref name=":0" />

The institute has been supported by the [[National Science Foundation]] and the [[National Security Agency]]<ref name="home">{{Cite web|last=MSRI|title=Mathematical Sciences Research Institute Home|url=http://www.msri.org/|access-date=2021-03-30|website=www.msri.org}}</ref> as well as private individuals, foundations, corporations, and academic institutions.<ref>{{cite web | title=SLMath | url=https://www.slmath.org/our-mission }}</ref> [[Jim Simons]], founder with his wife of the [[Simons Foundation]] and a [[University of California, Berkeley|Berkeley]] alumnus, was a long-time supporter of the institute and served on the board of trustees.<ref name="home"/>

==History ==
The institute was founded in September 1982 by Berkeley professors [[Shiing-Shen Chern]], [[Calvin C. Moore|Calvin Moore]], and [[Isadore Singer|Isadore M. Singer]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ias.edu/scholars/shiing-shen-chern|title=Shiing-Shen Chern|work=Institute for Advanced Study|access-date=2018-04-20|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://math.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/isadore-m-singer-0|title=Isadore M. Singer |publisher=Department of Mathematics at University of California Berkeley |language=en|access-date=2018-04-20}}</ref> Shiing-Shen Chern acted as the founding director of the institute and Calvin Moore acted as the founding deputy director.

Originally located in Berkeley's extension building at 2223 Fulton Street, the institute moved into its current facility in the Berkeley hills on April 1, 1985.<ref name=":1" /> The institute initially paid rent to the university for its "Hill Campus" building, but since August 2000, it has occupied the building free of rent, just one of several contributions by the Berkeley campus.<ref name=":1" />

In May 2022, the institute received a $70 million gift from [[Jim Simons|James and Marilyn Simons]] and [[Henry Laufer|Henry and Marsha Laufer]]. It was then renamed the Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220519005388/en/Mathematical-Sciences-Research-Institute-Receives-70M-Gift-Largest-Unrestricted-Endowed-Gift-to-a-U.S.-Based-Mathematics-Institute |title=Mathematical Sciences Research Institute Receives $70M Gift; Largest Unrestricted Endowed Gift to a U.S.-Based Mathematics Institute |date=19 May 2022 |website=[[Business Wire]]}}</ref>

== Governance ==
SLMath is governed by a board of trustees consisting of up to 35 elected members and seven ex-officio members: the director of the institute, the deputy director, the Chair of the Committee of Academic Sponsors, the co-Chairs of the Human Resources Advisory Committee and the co-Chairs of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC).<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.msri.org/web/msri/about-msri/governance-directory|title=Mathematical Sciences Research Institute|last=MSRI|website=www.msri.org|access-date=2018-05-17}}</ref>

Unlike many mathematical institutes, SLMath has no permanent faculty or members, and its research activities are overseen by its Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), a panel of mathematicians drawn from a variety of different areas of mathematical research.<ref name=":3"/> There are ten regular members in the SAC, and each member serves a four-year term and is elected by the board of trustees.<ref name=":3" />

==Research activities==
SLMath hosts mathematicians and [[postdoctoral research fellow]]s each semester and holds programs and workshops throughout the year. SLMath features two focused programs each semester, attended by mathematicians and postdocs from the United States and abroad.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.msri.org/web/msri/scientific/programs|title=Mathematical Sciences Research Institute|last=MSRI|website=www.msri.org|access-date=2018-04-20}}</ref>

SLMath takes advantage of its proximity to the Berkeley faculty and to the scientific talent and resources of [[Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]]; it also collaborates with organizations across the nation, including the [[Chicago Mercantile Exchange]], [[Citadel LLC]], [[IBM]], and [[Microsoft Research]]. The institute's forty-eight thousand square foot building has views of the [[San Francisco Bay]]. It has been active for 30 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2022/8/3/funding-for-mathematics-research-is-scarce-a-big-gift-underscores-the-potential-impact-for-donors|title=Funding for Mathematics Research is Scarce. A Big Gift Underscores the Potential Impact for Donors|author=Paul Karon|website=Inside Philanthropy=August 3, 2022|date=3 August 2022 }}</ref>

== Education programs ==
[[File:MSRI - Simons Auditorium 1.jpg|thumb|Simons Auditorium]]
SLMath also serves a wider community through the development of human scientific capital, providing postdoctoral training to young scientists and increasing the diversity of the research workforce.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.msri.org/web/msri/education|title=Mathematical Sciences Research Institute|last=MSRI|website=www.msri.org|access-date=2018-04-20}}</ref> The institute also advances the education of young people with conferences on issues in mathematics education. Additionally, they host research workshops that are unconnected to the main programs, such as its annual workshop on [[K-12]] mathematics education ''Critical Issues in Mathematics Education.''

During the summer, the institute holds workshops for graduate students.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.msri.org/web/msri/education/for-undergraduates/msri-up|title=Mathematical Sciences Research Institute|last=MSRI|website=www.msri.org|access-date=2018-04-21}}</ref> It also sponsors programs for middle and high school students and their teachers as part of the [[Math circles#Math circles in North America|Math Circles]] and Circles for Teachers that meet weekly in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Oakland. It also sponsors the Bay Area Mathematical Olympiad (BAMO), the [[Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival]], and the U.S. team of young girls that competes at the [[China Girls Math Olympiad]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.msri.org/web/msri/public|title=Mathematical Sciences Research Institute|last=MSRI|website=www.msri.org|access-date=2018-04-21}}</ref>

The lectures given at SLMath events are recorded and made available for free on the internet.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.msri.org/web/msri/online-videos/special-productions-events|title=Mathematical Sciences Research Institute|last=MSRI|website=www.msri.org|access-date=2018-04-21}}</ref> SLMath has sponsored a number of events that reach out to the non-mathematical public, and its Simons Auditorium also hosts special performances of classical music. Mathematician [[Robert Osserman]] has held a series of public "conversations" with artists who have been influenced by mathematics in their work, such as composer [[Philip Glass]], actor and writer [[Steve Martin]], playwright [[Tom Stoppard]], and actor and author [[Alan Alda]]. SLMath also collaborates with local playwrights for an annual program of new short mathematics-inspired plays at Monday Night Playground at the [[Berkeley Repertory Theater]], and co-sponsored a series of mathematics-inspired films with UC Berkeley's [[Pacific Film Archive]] for the institute's 20th anniversary.<ref name=":2" /> It also created a series of [[mathematical puzzles]] that were posted among the advertising placards on [[San Francisco Municipal Railway|San Francisco Muni]] buses.

==Mathical Book Prize==
The Mathical Award is presented to books "that inspire children of all ages to see math in the world around them."<ref name=Mathical1521/> Recipients of the award include [[John Rocco]], [[Robie Harris]], [[Jeffrey Kluger]], [[Lauren Child]], [[Michael J. Rosen]], [[Leopoldo Gout]], [[Elisha Cooper]], [[Kate Banks]], [[Gene Luen Yang]], [[Steve Light]], and [[Richard Schwartz (mathematician)|Richard Evan Schwartz]].<ref name=Mathical1521>{{cite web |url=https://www.mathicalbooks.org/ |title=2015-2021 Mathical Award Winners |author= |website=mathicalbooks.org |publisher=Mathematical Sciences Research Institute |accessdate=18 June 2021}}</ref>

==List of directors==

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Image
! Name
! Timespan
|-
| [[File:Shiing-Shen Chern.jpg|100 px]] || [[Shiing-Shen Chern]] || 1982–1984
|-
| [[File:Irving Kaplansky 1988 OPC.jpg|100 px]] || [[Irving Kaplansky]] || 1984–1992
|-
| [[File:William Thurston.jpg|100 px]] || [[William Thurston]] || 1992–1997
|-
| [[File:David Eisenbud.jpg|100 px]] || [[David Eisenbud]] || 1997–2007
|-
| [[File:Robert Bryant.jpg|100 px]] || [[Robert Bryant (mathematician)|Robert Bryant]] || 2007–2013
|-
| [[File:David Eisenbud.jpg|100 px]] || [[David Eisenbud]]|| 2013–2022
|-
| [[File:Tatiana Toro circa 2016.jpg|100 px]] || [[Tatiana Toro]] || 2022–present<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nsf.gov/mps/dms/documents/2021-09-Item-MSRI-Director.pdf |title=Dr. Tatiana Toro Named Next Director of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute |date=September 2021 |website=[[National Science Foundation]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220724215728/https://www.nsf.gov/mps/dms/documents/2021-09-Item-MSRI-Director.pdf |archive-date=24 July 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|}

==See also==
* [[Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics]]

==References==
<references />

== External links ==
*{{Official|https://www.slmath.org}}

*[http://www.mathinstitutes.org NSF Math Institutes]

{{University of California, Berkeley}}
{{American mathematics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Mathematical institutes]]
[[Category:National Science Foundation mathematical sciences institutes]]
[[Category:Research institutes in California]]
[[Category:Research institutes established in 1982]]
[[Category:1982 establishments in California]]
[[Category:Research institutes in the San Francisco Bay Area]]

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Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute