The 1966 Israeli under-20 chess championship title remains a distinct highlight of Abraham Neyman’s early career, preceding his extensive academic trajectory in mathematics. Born in 1949, this Israeli scholar developed a rigorous framework for game theory, particularly within the domains of repeated games, stochastic modeling, and the Shapley value, cementing his influence through both pedagogical and research-oriented contributions.
Academic Foundation
Neyman began his formal education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he earned a BSc in 1970 followed by an MSc in 1972. Under the supervision of Joram Lindenstrauss, he focused his master’s thesis on the range of a vector measure. In 1977, he completed his doctoral research on values of games with a continuum of players under the guidance of Robert Aumann. His academic prowess earned him the Abraham Urbach prize in 1977 and the Aharon Katzir prize in 1979 for his doctoral work.
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Appointed professor of mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1982, Neyman also held a professorship in economics there until 1990. He served as the chairman of the institute of mathematics between 1992 and 1994 and joined the Center for the Study of Rationality at its inception in 1991. Beyond his primary institution, he held positions at Stony Brook University of New York from 1985 to 2001 and served as a visiting scholar at Cornell University, Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley, Harvard University, and Ohio State University.
Game Theory Research
Neyman is recognized for his work on stochastic games, where he proved the existence of the uniform value for zero-sum undiscounted games. In repeated games, he explored how infinite repetition provides a paradigm for long finitely repeated scenarios, introducing concepts such as strategic entropy to analyze complexity constraints. His work on the Shapley value includes the introduction of the Neyman value, a generalization designed for non-differentiable vector measure games, alongside characterizations of value correspondence in large economies.
Editorial and Professional Service
Neyman has been a fellow of the Econometric Society since 1989. His editorial contributions include serving as the game theory area editor for Mathematics of Operations Research from 1987 to 1993, and board membership for Games and Economic Behavior and the International Journal of Game Theory. He presided over the Israeli Chapter of the Game Theory Society from 2014 to 2018 and delivered the inaugural von-Neumann lecture at the 2008 Congress of the Game Theory Society.
Fast facts
- Born: 1949, Israel
- Citizenship: Israel
- Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- PhD Advisor: Robert Aumann
- Fellow of the Econometric Society: 1989
- Field: Logic and Foundations
- Under-20 Chess Champion: 1966
Questions readers ask
What specific game theory areas did Neyman pioneer?
He is recognized for his contributions to stochastic games, repeated games, and the application of entropy techniques to analyze complexity constraints in strategic interactions.
Where did Neyman supervise doctoral students?
He supervised 12 PhD students in total, with five completing their degrees at Stony Brook University and seven at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Achievements
- Held posts at Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Fields: mathematics
