Honorary Degree

Peter D. Lax, Doctor of Science (Sc.D.)

Peter D. Lax is acclaimed internationally as one of the most versatile mathematicians of his generation and one of the premier scientists of our age. From the 1950s to the present, he has made fundamental contributions that have changed the way mathematics is used and taught throughout the world.

A graduate of New York University (B.S. '47, Ph.D. '49), Lax is a professor of mathematics at the NYU in the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. He has earned some of the world's most prestigious scientific awards, including membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the National Medal of Science, the Wolf Prize, and the Abel Prize, widely regarded as the "Nobel Prize of mathematics." His areas of expertise include integrable systems, hyperbolic conservation laws, and the study of shock waves, fluid dynamics, and soliton physics, all of which have contributed significantly to research in areas as diverse as the flow of oil in petroleum reservoirs, the design of aircraft, and the dynamics of weather systems. Lax is considered a pioneer of computational science, which uses large-scale computing to explore open questions in science and mathematics.

Lax's six decades' worth of discoveries and his unparalleled scientific vision have made possible the types of intensive computational analysis that are used routinely in scientific and industrial communities today. It is because of his groundbreaking work in applied mathematics and his profound influence on UW's faculty and curriculum that the University of Wyoming is today able to celebrate its leadership in energy research and its international standing among universities involved in computational science.

For all of your contributions, Peter D. Lax, we are honored to bestow upon you the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa.