We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our colleague Benedict (“Dick”) Gross on December 19, 2025.

Benedict Gross was a distinguished and profoundly influential number theorist, best known for the Gross–Zagier theorem on the L-functions of elliptic curves, as well as numerous other fundamental contributions to algebraic number theory, representation theory, and arithmetic geometry. His many honors included a MacArthur Fellowship (1986), the Cole Prize in Algebra (1987), election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1992), the National Academy of Sciences (2004), and the American Philosophical Society (2017).

After spending most of his mathematical career as a professor at Harvard University (1985–2015), Dick joined the UCSD Department of Mathematics, where he taught several inspiring graduate courses and played an important role in the research life of our department, particularly within our number theory group. Dick was a generous mentor to students and junior faculty, widely admired for his charisma, depth and clarity of thought, intellectual generosity, and unyielding commitment to the mathematical community.

Benedict Gross will be deeply missed by the number theory community and the broader mathematical world. For more than four decades, he shaped the field through profound mathematical contributions and exceptional dedication as a teacher, mentor, leader, and colleague. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife, Professor of Medicine Jill Mesirov, his sons Sam and Isaac, and his three grandsons.

While we develop more material for our website, please refer to the tribute posted by Harvard University:

https://www.math.harvard.edu/in-memory-of-professor-emeritus-benedict-gross/

We are pleased to announce that David Gao has been awarded the Hellman Family Foundation Endowed Graduate Fellowship, a prestigious program established to support early-career scholars demonstrating exceptional research promise.

The fellowship provides one-time funding to advance impactful research and help recipients accelerate their academic and professional growth.

More information about the award can be found here: https://evc.ucsd.edu/resources/hellman-fellowship-program.html 

The Department of Mathematics Front Desk will be closed for Winter Break starting on Thursday 12/18/25. We will reopen on Monday 1/5/26.

Congratulations to Sofia Tkachenko, recipient of the 2025-2025 Silagi Undergraduate Award! Please join us in celebrating this outstanding achievement.

Congratulations to our 16 undergraduate math majors who have been named among the recipients of the 2025-2026 Physical Sciences Dean’s Undergraduate Awards for Excellence!

The recipients are (in no particular order):

1. Chia-Lun Tsao
2. Kenji Gunawan
3. Eric Jung
4. Sahith Edula
5. He, Yifan
6. Maya Chang
7. Hoffman, Michael
8. Charles R. Chen
9. Jack Determan
10. Ryan Batubara
11. Gexiang Zhang
12. Yimeng Yin
13. Scarlett Chen
14. Marco Bazzani
15. Gavin Zhang
16. David Stephens

In a recent opinion piece in the San Diego Union Tribune, Professors Julian Betts (Economics), Akos Rona-Tas (Sociology and Vice Chair of UCSD Academic Senate) and Michael Holst (Chair, Department of Mathematics) discuss the issue of Mathematics preparation and their concerns about what it means for future students (as first presented in an Academic Senate workgroup report).

Congratulations to PhD student Johnny (Jingze) Li for their selection as one of six UCSD graduate student scholars recognized for his exceptional contributions to undergraduate education.  Johnny served as a Summer Graduate Teaching Scholar in Summer 2025, teaching a lecture of Math 20D where he developed a studio-style course environment that incorporated project-based learning, inquiry-based pedagogy and concept maps.  Johnny is a PhD candidate working in the emergent phenomenon of artificial and biological neural networks under the direction of Professor Gabriel Silva in Bioengineering and Professor Bo Li in Mathematics.

Congratulations to Adrian Ioana on being named the inaugural holder of the Presidential Chair in Mathematics. Professor Ioana is an internationally recognized leader in the general areas of operator theory and functional analysis. He is especially known for his work on von Neumann algebras, a topic with important applications in quantum mechanics and ergodic theory.

We are pleased to announce that Kazutoshi Alexander Patrick Ko has been selected as this year’s recipient of the Julie D. Soo, MA '85 Master's Degree Scholarship.

This prestigious award, in the amount of $2,500, recognizes a master's degree student in the physical sciences or statistics who has demonstrated a commitment to applying analytical skills in the service of social responsibility and civic engagement.

Congratulations to Kazutoshi on this well-deserved honor!