Suffolk Reporter

State University of New York Distinguished Professor Christopher Bishop has been awarded the 2024 Senior Berwick Prize by the London Mathematical Society (LMS). Bishop, a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Mathematics, received the award for his papers “Models for the Eremenko–Lyubich Class,” published in the Journal of the London Mathematical Society in 2015, and “Models for the Speiser Class,” published in the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society in 2017. LMS announced its 2024 prize winners at the end of June.

The Berwick Prize and Senior Berwick Prize are awarded by LMS in alternating years to honor William Edward Hodgson Berwick. The prizes recognize “an outstanding piece of mathematical research … published by the Society” within eight years before the award year.

The prize has been awarded for 40 years to numerous mathematicians, including Stony Brook Emeritus Professor Dusa McDuff in 2010, as well as John G. Thompson, Louis Mordell, JHC Whitehead, Nigel Hitchen, William Hodge, Ian Agol, among others.

“I was gratified and delighted to hear that I had been awarded the Senior Berwick prize by the London Mathematical Society,” Bishop said. “This is a highly regarded award and the list of previous winners includes numerous mathematical luminaries, so to be included among such names is a tremendous honor that was quite unexpected but much appreciated.”

“Professor Bishop’s groundbreaking work creating the technique of conformal folding and applying it to open questions in transcendental dynamical systems is an important milestone, opening new methods of investigation in this branch of mathematics,” said Scott Sutherland, professor and chair in the Department of Mathematics. “It is a great pleasure to see the London Mathematical Society acknowledge its importance with this well-deserved prize.”

Bishop is an internationally acclaimed mathematician specializing in complex analysis, hyperbolic geometry, and computational geometry. His work has been described as "breakthrough" and "revolutionary." Over his three-decade career, he has solved significant problems, developed new concepts, and advanced mathematics.

Bishop has over 90 publications in top journals like Annals of Mathematics, Inventiones Mathematicae and Acta Mathematica. He has received continuous support from U.S. National Science Foundation grants for more than 30 years. He was also awarded a Sloan Fellowship and became a Fellow of both American Mathematics Society (2019) and Simons Fellow (2019).

In its official citation for Bishop's award-winning papers on transcendental entire functions classes S (Speiser class) and B (Eremenko–Lyubich class), LMS stated: “The papers constitute a breakthrough... [and] provide a ‘black box’ that is now the gold standard for constructing functions... His work represents an extraordinary step-change...”

Founded in 1865, LMS is one of the oldest mathematical societies globally; it inspired the establishment of American Mathematical Society in 1888. LMS promotes mathematics advancement worldwide through prestigious journal publications.