The 2024 Leroy P. Steele Prize for Seminal Contribution to Research was awarded to Wojciech Samotij for his collaborative work on extremal problems. Born in 1983 in Wrocław, Poland, he has established an academic career focused on combinatorics, additive number theory, Ramsey theory, and graph theory, currently serving as a professor at Tel Aviv University.
Academic Formation
Samotij completed his initial higher education at the University of Wrocław, where he earned Master of Science degrees in mathematics and computer science in 2007. He subsequently moved to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he finished his PhD in 2011. His doctoral dissertation, titled Extremal Problems In Pseudo-random Graphs And Asymptotic Enumeration, was supervised by József Balogh.
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Following his doctoral studies, Samotij held a fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge, from 2010 until 2014. He is currently an associate professor at the School of Mathematical Sciences at Tel Aviv University. His research output has appeared in major journals, including the Journal of the American Mathematical Society, Random Structures & Algorithms, and the Israel Journal of Mathematics.
Recognitions and Prizes
The mathematical community has recognized Samotij with several honors throughout his career. In 2013, he received both the Kuratowski Prize, issued by the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Mathematical Society, and the European Prize in Combinatorics. Further distinctions include the 2016 George Pólya Prize and the 2022 Erdős Prize, culminating in the 2024 Leroy P. Steele Prize shared with colleagues József Balogh and Robert Morris.
Fast facts
- Born: 1983, Wrocław, Poland
- Field: Mathematics, Logic & Foundations
- Education: University of Wrocław, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Current Employer: Tel Aviv University
- 2013 Awards: Kuratowski Prize, European Prize in Combinatorics
- 2016 Award: George Pólya Prize
- 2022 Award: Erdős Prize
- 2024 Award: Leroy P. Steele Prize
Questions readers ask
What is Wojciech Samotij's primary area of research?
He specializes in combinatorics, additive number theory, Ramsey theory, and graph theory.
Where does he currently teach?
He is a professor at the School of Mathematical Sciences at Tel Aviv University.
Achievements
- European Prize in Combinatorics — 2013
- Held posts at Tel Aviv University
