View source for Biography:Gerd Faltings

{{Infobox scientist
| name = Gerd Faltings
| image = Gerd Faltings MFO.jpg
| image_size = 225px
| caption = Gerd Faltings
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1954|07|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = Gelsenkirchen-Buer, West Germany
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| nationality = {{wipe|Germany}}
| field = [[Mathematics]]
| work_institutions = Max Planck Institute for Mathematics<br>[[Organization:University of Bonn|University of Bonn]]<br>[[Organization:Princeton University|Princeton University]]<br />[[Organization:University of Wuppertal|University of Wuppertal]]
| alma_mater = [[Organization:University of Münster|University of Münster]]
| doctoral_advisor = Hans-Joachim Nastold
| doctoral_students = {{Plainlist|
* [[Biography:Shinichi Mochizuki|Shinichi Mochizuki]]<ref name=shin>{{cite journal|author=Castelvecchi, Davide|title=The biggest mystery in mathematics: Shinichi Mochizuki and the impenetrable proof|journal=Nature|date=7 October 2015|volume=526|issue=7572|url=http://www.nature.com/news/the-biggest-mystery-in-mathematics-shinichi-mochizuki-and-the-impenetrable-proof-1.18509|doi=10.1038/526178a|pages=178–181|pmid=26450038|bibcode=2015Natur.526..178C}}</ref>
* Wiesława Nizioł<ref name=niz>{{mathgenealogy|id=18877}}</ref>
*Nikolai Durov
}}
| influenced        = [[Biography:Shou-Wu Zhang|Shou-Wu Zhang]]<ref name="amss">{{cite web|url=http://www.amss.ac.cn/xwdt/zhxw/2011/201111/t20111111_3394825.html |title=从放鸭娃到数学大师 |trans-title=From ducklings to mathematics master |publisher=Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science |date=11 November 2011 |accessdate= 5 May 2019 |lang=zh}}</ref><ref name="dream">{{cite web |url=https://news.sina.com.tw/article/20190503/31155020.html |title=專訪張壽武：在數學殿堂里，依然懷抱小學四年級的夢想 |trans-title=Interview with Zhang Shou-Wu: In the mathematics department, he still has his dream from fourth grade of elementary school |publisher=Beijing Sina Net |date=3 May 2019 |accessdate=5 May 2019 |lang=zh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505145650/https://news.sina.com.tw/article/20190503/31155020.html |archive-date=5 May 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| known_for = {{Plainlist|
* [[Mordell conjecture]]
* [[Faltings height]]
* [[Faltings's product theorem]]
}}
| prizes = Fields Medal (1986) Guggenheim Fellowship (1988)<br>Leibniz Prize (1996)<br>King Faisal International Prize (2014) <br>Shaw Prize (2015) <br>Cantor Medal (2017)
| website = {{URL|http://www.hcm.uni-bonn.de/people/profile/gerd-faltings/}}
}}

'''Gerd Faltings''' ({{IPA-de|ˈfaltɪŋs|lang}}; born 28 July 1954) is a {{wipe|Germany}} [[Biography:Mathematician|mathematician]] known for his work in [[Arithmetic geometry|arithmetic geometry]].<ref name=mactutor>{{MacTutor Biography|id=Faltings}}</ref><ref name=mathgene>{{MathGenealogy |id=18851}}</ref>

==Education==
From 1972 to 1978, Faltings studied [[Mathematics|mathematics]] and [[Physics:Physics|physics]] at the [[Organization:University of Münster|University of Münster]]. In 1978 he received his PhD in mathematics.<ref name=mathgene/>

==Career and research==
In 1981 he obtained the ''venia legendi'' ([[Social:Habilitation|Habilitation]]) in mathematics, both from the [[Organization:University of Münster|University of Münster]]. During this time he was an assistant professor at the University of Münster. From 1982 to 1984, he was [[Social:Professor|professor]] at the [[Organization:University of Wuppertal|University of Wuppertal]].<ref name=Zeit>{{cite web|url=http://www.zeit.de/1984/24/genie-ist-fuer-ihn-normal |title= Gerd Faltings: Genie ist für ihn normal |trans-title=Gerd Faltings: For him, genius is the norm |language=German |first=Roland |last=Kirbach |work=Die Zeit |date=8 June 1984 |accessdate=14 May 2013}}</ref> 

From 1985 to 1994, he was professor at [[Organization:Princeton University|Princeton University]]. In the fall of 1988 and in the academic year 1992–1993 he was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ias.edu/scholars/gerd-faltings|title=Gerd Faltings|website=Institute for Advanced Study}}</ref>

In 1986 he was awarded the Fields Medal at the ICM at Berkeley  for proving the [[Tate conjecture]] for abelian varieties over number fields, the [[Faltings's theorem|Shafarevich conjecture]] for abelian varieties over number fields and the [[Mordell conjecture]], which states that any non-singular projective curve of genus ''g'' > 1 defined over a number field ''K'' contains only finitely many ''K''-rational points. As a Fields Medalist he gave an ICM plenary talk ''Recent progress in arithmetic algebraic geometry''. 

In 1994 as an ICM invited speaker in Zurich he gave a talk ''Mumford-Stabilität in der algebraischen Geometrie.'' Extending methods of [[Biography:Paul Vojta|Paul Vojta]], he proved the [[Mordell–Lang conjecture]], which is a generalization of the Mordell conjecture. Together with Gisbert Wüstholz, he reproved [[Roth's theorem]], for which Roth had been awarded the Fields medal in 1958.

In 1994, he returned to Germany and from 1994 to 2018, he was a director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in [[Place:Bonn|Bonn]]. 
In 1996, he received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the [[Organization:Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft|Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft]], which is the highest honour awarded in German research.

Faltings was the formal supervisor of [[Biography:Shinichi Mochizuki|Shinichi Mochizuki]],<ref name=shin/> Wieslawa Niziol,<ref name=niz/> Nikolai Dourov.

==Awards and honours==
* Fields Medal (1986)
* Guggenheim Fellowship (1988/89) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/gerd-faltings/|title=John Simon Guggenheim Foundation &#124; Gerd Faltings}}</ref>
* Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (1996)
* King Faisal International Prize (2014)
* Shaw Prize (2015) <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.shawprize.org/en/shaw.php?tmp=3&twoid=98&threeid=245&fourid=444|title=The Shaw Prize - Top prizes for astronomy, life science and mathematics|website=www.shawprize.org}}</ref> 
* Foreign Member of the Royal Society (2016) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/gerd-faltings-12864/|title=Gerd Faltings &#124; Royal Society|website=royalsociety.org}}</ref>
* Cantor Medal (2017) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mathematik.de/presse|title=Presseinformationen|website=www.mathematik.de}}</ref>
* National Academy of Sciences foreign associate (2018){{cn|date=August 2018}}

==References==
{{Reflist|35em}}

==External links==
{{Fields medalists}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faltings, Gerd}}

{{Sourceattribution|Gerd Faltings|1}}