This prestigious six-month position has been set up to provide a world-renowned researcher with a unique opportunity to work at the Fields Institute on a research project of their choosing alongside multiple Canadian and international colleagues. 

Prof. Pillay, the William J. Hank Family Professor of Mathematics at Notre Dame University and an internationally recognized leader in mathematical logic and model theory, will establish a semester-long residency at the Fields Institute where he’ll give an advanced research-level course. His residency will run from July 1 – December 31, 2021.

“Anand Pillay has been a pivotal figure in almost every major development in model-theoretic algebra for more than forty years. It is a great honour for the Fields Institute to have the opportunity to host him through the generous support of the Simons Foundation. His presence will generate activity and intellectual excitement for all of the participants,” says Fields Institute Deputy Director, Deirdre Haskell. 

The Simons Distinguished Visitor was selected by a committee chaired by the Directors of the Fields Institute, in consultation with the Fields Institute Scientific Advisory Panel. The driving motivation behind the Simons Distinguished Visitor program is to gather the best minds in a particular area at Fields, with the Simons Distinguished Visitor serving as the anchor. In addition to a salary and living expenses, the position offers support for the graduate students or postdoctoral fellows under Prof. Pillay's supervision who will join him at Fields.

"The Fields Institute plays a major role in strengthening the mathematical community, and especially so during the current crisis. We are delighted that our grant allows the Institute to attract the very best international experts," says Yuri Tschinkel, director of Mathematics and Physical Sciences at the Simons Foundation. 

Prof. Pillay has made substantial contributions to the mathematical sciences over his four-decade career. Born in London, England, he studied Mathematics and Philosophy at Oxford before completing his Ph.D at the University of London and several postdocs in Paris, Manchester and Montreal. Since 1983, Prof. Pillay has taught at the University of Notre Dame, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he held the Swanlund Chair position, and the University of Leeds. He returned to Notre Dame in 2013. Prof. Pillay was an invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematics in Zurich and the recipient of a Humboldt-Preis in 2001, which he took up in Berlin.  

Throughout his career, Prof. Pillay has worked in model theory, gradually discovering connections with other parts of mathematics. His list of graduate students is as long as impressive as his credentials, with many of his students going on to make substantial contributions to their chosen areas. He has enjoyed a warm relationship with Canada and the Fields Institute for several decades, including his participation in a number of Fields workshops and programs and an honorary doctorate received from the University of Waterloo in 2018.

“It is a great honour to be awarded this Simons Distinguished Visitor position at the Fields Institute. The mathematical logic and model theory community have had a long relationship with Fields and I have had a close connection with Canada since my postdoc in 1982-83 with Mihaly Makkai at McGill. I am very happy to continue the relationship,” says Prof. Pillay, adding that he has promised the Deputy Director he will go outside to smoke his cigars.

For more information please contact:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Jordana Feldman, Senior Writer