Suffolk Reporter

Stony Brook University professor John Pardon has been named a co-recipient of the 2025 New Horizons in Mathematics Prize. Awarded to early-career researchers who have made significant contributions in their fields, the prize grants an amount of $100,000. Professor Pardon is being recognized for his research in the field of geometry and topology, with a focus on symplectic geometry and pseudo-holomorphic curves.

The Breakthrough Prize, often referred to as the "Oscars of Science," acknowledges exceptional achievement in various scientific disciplines. It was established by founding sponsors including Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Julia and Yuri Milner, and Anne Wojcicki, to celebrate scientific achievements that have a broad impact, including advancements in understanding and treating major diseases.

Carl W. Lejuez, executive vice president and provost commented, “That John has received this honor so early in his career is a testament of course to his own commitment to unraveling some of the mysteries of geometry and to the incredible research that is going on at the Simons Center and in the math department in the College of Arts and Sciences.” He added, “John is an exemplary of what makes Stony Brook the state’s top public university and a flagship. I sincerely congratulate him on his Breakthrough Prize.”

Luis Alvarez-Gaume, director of the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, said, “John Pardon has produced a broad spectrum of outstanding results in various areas of geometry and topology including as an undergraduate and PhD student. He co-created effective algebraic machinery for computation of symplectic invariants, which brought many new applications. Most recently, John proved a conjecture of Maulik, Nekrasov, Okounkov, and Pandharipande for a large class of complex three-dimensional manifolds, including all Calabi–Yau threefolds.”

Stony Brook University is the flagship institution in the State University of New York (SUNY) system and the state's top public university. It is noted for its research-intensive programs and dedication to solving global challenges.

Photo credit: John Griffin/Stony Brook University