Congratulations to Sir Andrew J. Wiles, James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Mathematics, Emeritus, who has been awarded the 2016 Abel Prize "for his stunning proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem by way of the modularity conjecture for semistable elliptic curves, opening a new era in number theory.” The citation continues, "Andrew J. Wiles is one of very few mathematicians – if not the only one – whose proof of a theorem has made international headline news. In 1994 he cracked Fermat’s Last Theorem, which at the time was the most famous, and long-running, unsolved problem in the subject’s history."One of mathematic's most prestigious honors, the Abel Prize is awarded each year by the Norwegeian Academy of Science and Letters. This award marks the third consecutive year that a Princeton mathematician has received the Abel Prize, following Yakov Sinai in 2014 and John F. Nash, Jr. (joint with Louis Nirenberg) in 2015. Wiles will receive the prize from H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway at a ceremony in Oslo on May 24th.
