Ruth Lyttle Satter Prize in Mathematics
The Ruth Lyttle Satter Prize in Mathematics, also called the Satter Prize, is one of twenty-one prizes given out by the American Mathematical Society (AMS). It is presented biennially in recognition of an outstanding contribution to mathematics research by a woman in the previous six years. The award was funded in 1990 using a donation from Joan Birman, in memory of her sister, Ruth Lyttle Satter, who worked primarily in biological sciences, and was a proponent for equal opportunities for women in science. First awarded in 1991, the award is intended to "honor [Satter's] commitment to research and to encourage women in science". The winner is selected by the council of the AMS, based on the recommendation of a selection committee. The prize is awarded at the Joint Mathematics Meetings during odd numbered years, and has always carried a modest cash reward. Since 2003, the prize has been $5,000, while from 1997 to 2001, the prize came with $1,200, and $4,000 prior to that. If a joint award is given, the prize money is split between the recipients.
Dusa McDuff was the first recipient of the award, for her work on symplectic geometry. A joint award was given for the first time in 2001, when Karen E. Smith and Sijue Wu shared the award. The 2013 prize winner was Maryam Mirzakhani, who, the following year, became the first woman to be awarded the Fields Medal, which is considered to be the highest honor a mathematician can receive. She won both awards for her work on "the geometry of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces". The most recent winner is Ana Caraiani, who was awarded the prize in 2025 "for contributions to arithmetic geometry and number theory: in particular, the Langlands program.".
Recipients
See also
References
Sources
- Case, Bettye; Leggett, Anne, eds. (2005). Complexities: Women in Mathematics. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-11462-5.
- Morrow, Charlene; Perl, Teri, eds. (1998). Notable Women in Mathematics: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 140. ISBN 0-313-29131-4.