Distinguished Professor H. Blaine Lawson, Jr., from the Department of Mathematics at Stony Brook University, has been awarded the American Mathematical Society’s 2026 Leroy P. Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement. The annual prize recognizes individuals whose research has had a significant impact on mathematics over their careers.
Professor Lawson is known for his contributions to differential geometry, topology, and analysis. His work includes constructing compact minimal surfaces of every topological type except the projective plane in the 3-sphere and collaborating with F. Reese Harvey on calibrated geometries, which influenced both mathematics and physics. He has also mentored many graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
Scott Sutherland, chair of the Stony Brook Mathematics department, commented: “I am thrilled to learn that Professor Lawson has been given this well-deserved award, recognizing his contributions to mathematics since the 1970s. For decades, he has been (and continues to be) a cornerstone of mathematical life at Stony Brook University.”
Professor Lawson responded: “I was completely amazed and thrilled upon receiving notice of this prize and I want to express my deep and humble gratitude to the AMS. My journey in mathematics has been a wonderful personal experience: rapture, woes, absolute involvement – but most of all, the people.”
Lawson holds degrees from Brown University in Applied Mathematics and Russian Literature and earned his PhD from Stanford University. Before joining Stony Brook University as a full professor, he held positions at the University of California, Berkeley. He has had visiting appointments at several international institutions such as the Institute for Advanced Study; Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques; Instituto de Matemática Pura e Aplicada; Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences at Kyoto University; and School of Mathematics at the Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai.
Throughout his career, Professor Lawson delivered named lectures and spoke twice at the International Congress of Mathematicians. He served as an editor for journals including Annals of Mathematics, The Journal of Differential Geometry, Journal of Topology, and The Journal of the AMS. He was vice president of the AMS and participated on boards for various institutes while advising 39 PhD students.
His honors include membership in The National Academy of Sciences, The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Brazilian Academy of Sciences; winning the Steele Prize for Exposition in 1975; Guggenheim Fellowship; and Sloan Fellowship.
Stony Brook University is recognized as New York’s flagship public university with more than 27,000 students and over 3,000 faculty members. It is part of SUNY system and co-manages Brookhaven National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy.
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