Bilde
Misha is a driving force at IHÉS, says Director Bourguignon
"The decision of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences to award the Abel Prize 2009 to Misha Gromov is great news for me, as Director of the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques. Misha has been a driving force of the Institute for more than a quarter of a century now, attracting scientists working in many different disciplines.
He sees things differently, a characteristic that made him open several new avenues in various important subfields of mathematics. He thinks geometrically but the word "geometry" needs to be taken in a somewhat broader sense than is normally the case. This twist also applies to his considering and understanding of complexity, with far reaching consequences on possible ways of approaching the study of data - from genome sequencing for example.
It is his commitment to explore the interface of mathematics at large and biology that made us move forward in opening up this new area of activities here in Bures-sur-Yvette. This forced us to learn more about the way biologists, biochemists and their colleagues operate, in order to find the most appropriate ways of allowing the Institute to contribute in this area through unconventional channels. This does not go without controversy as Misha is often radical in his judgments, but it certainly takes non conventional minds to make significant steps in this very challenging field.
Distinguishing Misha Gromov also distinguishes a man who gives a lot of attention to people, even if his sharp remarks can sometimes (understandably) unsettle people. He just really wants to get to the bottom of things."
