The 1989 Stefan Bergman Prize was awarded for the first time to David William Catlin, a United States mathematician focused on several complex variables. Born in Rochester, Pennsylvania, on 12 May 1952, he established his career through rigorous contributions to the field of complex analysis and boundary behavior problems.
Academic Formation
Catlin completed his doctoral studies at Princeton University in 1978. His dissertation, titled Boundary Behavior of Holomorphic Functions on Weakly Pseudoconvex Domains, was written under the supervision of Joseph Kohn. This training prepared him for his ongoing tenure as a professor at Purdue University.
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His research centers on the Neumann problem for the d-bar operator. This area involves non-elliptic boundary value problems originally formulated by Donald Spencer. Catlin addressed specific boundary behavior challenges that Kohn had previously investigated. His publications, such as the 1983 paper in Annals of Mathematics, established necessary conditions for subellipticity.
Professional Recognition and Editorial Work
Beyond his individual research, Catlin contributed to the academic literature through collaborations and editing. In 1995, he co-edited the volume Modern Methods in Complex Analysis with Thomas Bloom, John P. D'Angelo, and Yum-Tong Siu. He has also authored joint papers on Hermitian forms and applications to holomorphic mappings.
Fast facts
- Born: 12 May 1952, Rochester, Pennsylvania
- Citizenship: United States
- Alma Mater: Princeton University
- Current Employer: Purdue University
- Award: Stefan Bergman Prize (1989)
- Brother: Paul Allen Catlin (1948–1995)
Questions readers ask
What is David Catlin's primary field of study?
He specializes in mathematics, specifically the theory of several complex variables.
Under whom did he complete his Ph.D.?
He received his doctorate from Princeton University under the supervision of Joseph Kohn.
Achievements
- Stefan Bergman Prize — 1989
- Held posts at Purdue University
