Günter M. Ziegler is nationally and internationally recognized for the breadth of his mathematical work.  His main fields of research are discrete mathematics, geometry, topology, optimization, and numerics. He is known for working out surprising solutions to major mathematical problems, most recently for example, in the proof of the colored Tverberg theorem.

A native of Munich, Ziegler earned his doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. He was an assistant to Professor Martin Grötschel at Augsburg University and department head at the Konrad Zuse Center for Information Technology in Berlin (ZIB). In 1995 he was appointed a professor at Technische Universität Berlin. He was also the chairperson of Berlin Mathematical School and was a founding member of the DFG Research Center Matheon.

In 2001 Ziegler received the prestigious Leibniz Prize awarded by the DFG, in 2008 the Communicator Award from the DFG and the Donors' Association, and in 2010 he received an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council. In March 2011 he was appointed to a Matheon professorship at Freie Universität. "I am very happy that the AMS has chosen to honor me by electing me as a Fellow, and I happily accept the nomination," said Ziegler.

For the first time this year, the AMS has honored 1119 mathematicians by naming them Fellows of the American Mathematical Society; only 19 of them are from Germany. The criteria for this nomination are excellent research, an AMS Research Award, or an invited talk at an AMS conference or one of the two major international mathematics congresses, ICM or ICIAM. The current selection of Fellows is made up of members who were AMS members in 2010 and 2011 and were still members on January 1, 2012. One goal of the Fellows program is to provide a mathematical honor more accessible than those available up to now, in other words, to honor not only the extraordinary, but also the excellent. The Fellows program is intended to honor individuals and also to give more recognition to the field of mathematics as a whole. The Fellows embody excellence in mathematics, advise the AMS President and Council, and take part in the election of new Fellows.

Further Information

• Prof. Günter M. Ziegler, Institute of Mathematics, Freie Universität, Tel.: +49 (0)30 / 838-75668, Email: ziegler@math.fu-berlin.de
• Thomas Vogt, Media Office, Institute of Mathematics, Freie Universität, Tel.: +49 (0)30  / 838-75657, Email: vogtt@math.fu-berlin.de

Internet

Homepage of Prof. Ziegler, including images (free of charge): http://page.mi.fu-berlin.de/gmziegler/photos.shtml