Michigan State University mathematics associate professor Dapeng Zhan has been named a 2016 Simons Fellowship in mathematics.
This year, the Simons Fellows Program provided funds for 30 professors for up to a semester-long research leave from classroom teaching and administrative obligations. The goal of the program is to make it easier for researchers to take such leaves, or to extend sabbatical leaves by an extra half year.
“I am delighted and honored to receive this fellowship from the Simons Foundation,” Zhan said. “With this support, I will be able to concentrate on several research projects that I have been planning.”
Zhan joined the faculty at MSU in 2009 as an assistant professor of mathematics and was promoted to associate professor in 2012. His research interests include probability theory, complex analysis, statistical mechanics and Schramm-Loewner Evolution. Prior to joining MSU, Zhan was an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley and Yale University.
“Receiving a Simons Fellowship is a great honor,” said Keith Promislow, professor and chair of the MSU Department of Mathematics in the College of Natural Science. “These are highly competitive awards that recognize the very top researchers in mathematics and the physical sciences. Professor Zhan is recognized as a world leader in the emerging field of Schram-Loewner evolution, having already received a Sloan Fellowship and Salem Prize; this award redoubles his status.”
The Simons Foundation’s mission is to advance the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences. The foundation’s support of scientists generally takes the form of direct grants to individual investigators and projects through their academic institutions. The foundation makes grants in four areas: mathematics and physical sciences, life sciences, autism research, and education and outreach.