 The MSRI entrance, May 2011 | |
Former name | Mathematical Sciences Research Institute |
|---|---|
| Type | 501(c)(3)nonprofitmathematicalresearch institute |
| Established | 1982; 43 years ago (1982) |
| Founders | |
| Endowment | $89 million (2022)[1] |
| Director | Tatiana Toro |
| Address | 17 Gauss Way ,Berkeley ,,37°52′47″N122°14′39″W / 37.879799°N 122.244294°W /37.879799; -122.244294 |
| Website | slmath |
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TheSimons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath), formerly theMathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI), is an independent nonprofitmathematicalresearch institution on theUniversity of California campus inBerkeley, California.[2] It is a center for research inmathematics. Each year, over 1,700 mathematicians spend time at MSRI.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
The institute was founded in 1982, and its funding sources include theNational Science Foundation, private foundations, corporations, and more than 90 universities and institutions.[10][4] The institute is located at 17 Gauss Way on theBerkeley campus, close toGrizzly Peak in theBerkeley Hills.[2]
The institute has been supported by theNational Science Foundation and theNational Security Agency[11] as well as private individuals, foundations, corporations, and academic institutions.[12]Jim Simons, founder with his wife of theSimons Foundation and aBerkeley alumnus, was a long-time supporter of the institute and served on the board of trustees.[11]
The institute was founded in September 1982 by Berkeley professorsShiing-Shen Chern,Calvin Moore, andIsadore M. Singer.[10][13][14] Shiing-Shen Chern acted as the founding director of the institute and Calvin Moore acted as the founding deputy director.
Originally located in Berkeley's extension building at 2223 Fulton Street, the institute moved into its current facility in the Berkeley hills on April 1, 1985.[10] The institute initially paid rent to the university for its "Hill Campus" building, but since August 2000, it has occupied the building free of rent, just one of several contributions by the Berkeley campus.[10]
In May 2022, the institute received a $70 million gift fromJames and Marilyn Simons andHenry and Marsha Laufer. It was then renamed the Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute.[15]
SLMath is governed by a board of trustees consisting of up to 35 elected members and seven ex-officio members: the director of the institute, the deputy director, the Chair of the Committee of Academic Sponsors, the co-Chairs of the Human Resources Advisory Committee and the co-Chairs of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC).[16]
Unlike many mathematical institutes, SLMath has no permanent faculty or members, and its research activities are overseen by its Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), a panel of mathematicians drawn from a variety of different areas of mathematical research.[16] There are ten regular members in the SAC, and each member serves a four-year term and is elected by the board of trustees.[16]
SLMath hosts mathematicians andpostdoctoral research fellows each semester and holds programs and workshops throughout the year. SLMath features two focused programs each semester, attended by mathematicians and postdocs from the United States and abroad.[17]
SLMath takes advantage of its proximity to the Berkeley faculty and to the scientific talent and resources ofLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; it also collaborates with organizations across the nation, including theChicago Mercantile Exchange,Citadel LLC,IBM, andMicrosoft Research. The institute's forty-eight thousand square foot building has views of theSan Francisco Bay. It has been active for 30 years.[18]
SLMath also serves a wider community through the development of human scientific capital, providing postdoctoral training to young scientists and increasing the diversity of the research workforce.[19] The institute also advances the education of young people with conferences on issues in mathematics education. Additionally, they host research workshops that are unconnected to the main programs, such as its annual workshop onK-12 mathematics educationCritical Issues in Mathematics Education.
During the summer, the institute holds workshops for graduate students.[20] It also sponsors programs for middle and high school students and their teachers as part of theMath Circles and Circles for Teachers that meet weekly in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Oakland. It also sponsors the Bay Area Mathematical Olympiad (BAMO), theJulia Robinson Mathematics Festival, and the U.S. team of young girls that competes at theChina Girls Math Olympiad.[21]
The lectures given at SLMath events are recorded and made available for free on the internet.[22] SLMath has sponsored a number of events that reach out to the non-mathematical public, and its Simons Auditorium also hosts special performances of classical music. MathematicianRobert Osserman has held a series of public "conversations" with artists who have been influenced by mathematics in their work, such as composerPhilip Glass, actor and writerSteve Martin, playwrightTom Stoppard, and actor and authorAlan Alda. SLMath also collaborates with local playwrights for an annual program of new short mathematics-inspired plays at Monday Night Playground at theBerkeley Repertory Theater, and co-sponsored a series of mathematics-inspired films with UC Berkeley'sPacific Film Archive for the institute's 20th anniversary.[22] It also created a series ofmathematical puzzles that were posted among the advertising placards onSan Francisco Muni buses.
The Mathical Award is presented to books "that inspire children of all ages to see math in the world around them."[23] Recipients of the award includeJohn Rocco,Robie Harris,Jeffrey Kluger,Lauren Child,Michael J. Rosen,Leopoldo Gout,Elisha Cooper,Kate Banks,Gene Luen Yang,Steve Light, andRichard Evan Schwartz.[23]
| Image | Name | Timespan |
|---|---|---|
 | Shiing-Shen Chern | 1982–1984 |
 | Irving Kaplansky | 1984–1992 |
 | William Thurston | 1992–1997 |
 | David Eisenbud | 1997–2007 |
 | Robert Bryant | 2007–2013 |
| David Eisenbud | 2013–2022 |
 | Tatiana Toro | 2022–present[24] |
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