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Personal Profile of Dr. David Eisenbud

Dr. David Eisenbud
Professor
Department of Mathematics
Professor
Department of Mathematics

Home Page: https://www.msri.org/m/people/staff/de/

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5418-5579

MSRI Program:
Complementary Program 2022-23
Visit Dates:
August 16, 2022 - May 26, 2023
MSRI Program:
Commutative Algebra
Visit Dates:
January 16, 2024 - May 24, 2024
Biography

David Eisenbud received his PhD in mathematics in 1970 at the University of Chicago under Saunders MacLane and Chris Robson, and was on the faculty at Brandeis University from 1970 until becoming. Professor of Mathematics at UC Berkeley in 1997. His mathematical interests range widely over commutative and non-commutative algebra, algebraic geometry, topology, and computer methods.

Eisenbud served as Director of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute from 1997-2007 and 2013-2022. He worked for the Simons Foundation from 2009 to 2011 creating the Foundation's grant program in Mathematics and the Physical Sciences. He is currently on the Board of Directors of the Foundation, the Banff International Research Station (BIRS) and the Fields Institute for Research in the Mathematical Sciences. He is also a Director of Math for America, a foundation devoted to improving mathematics teaching.

Eisenbud has been a member of the Board of Mathematical Sciences and their Applications of the National Research Council, and the U.S. National Committee of the International Mathematical Union. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard, and in Bonn, and Paris. He is currently Chair of the Editorial Board of the Algebra and Number Theory journal, which he helped found in 2006, and serves on the Board of the Journal of Software for Algebra and Geometry, as well as Springer-Verlag’s book series Algorithms and Computation in Mathematics and Graduate Texts in Mathematics.

In 2006, Eisenbud was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He won the 2010 Leroy P. Steele Prize for Exposition for his book “Commutative Algebra, with a View toward Algebraic Geometry” and the 2020 Award for Distinguished Public Service, both from the American Mathematical Society.

Eisenbud’s interests outside of mathematics include theater, music and juggling. He loves photography and music, and sings Bach, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, and more.

Current/Future Committee Membership
Name Office Start Date End Date
Emeriti Trustees Aug 01, 2022 Feb 28, 2025

Past Committee Membership
Name Office Start Date End Date
Board of Trustees Ex-officio Trustee (Director) Jul 01, 1997 Jul 31, 2007
Board of Trustees Director (8/1/13-7/31/22) Mar 01, 2009 Jul 31, 2022
Broadening Participation Advisory Ex-officio (Director) Jul 01, 1997 Jul 31, 2007
Broadening Participation Advisory Ex officio, Director Aug 01, 2013 Jul 31, 2022
Building Committee Ex-officio (Director) Sep 13, 2000 Mar 31, 2006
Building Oversight Committee Ex-officio (Director) Feb 27, 2003 Mar 31, 2006
Capital Campaign Committee Ex-officio (Director) Jun 05, 2001 Jul 31, 2007
Committee of Academic Sponsors Ex-officio (Director) Mar 01, 2003 Jul 31, 2007
Committee on Public Understanding Director, ex officio Aug 01, 2013 Jul 31, 2017
Committee on Public Understanding Director, ex officio Aug 01, 2013 Jul 31, 2017
Committee on Trustees Ex-officio (Director) Mar 01, 2003 Jul 31, 2007
Committee on Trustees May 26, 2009 Mar 01, 2010
Committee on Trustees Jul 28, 2010 Mar 01, 2011
Committee on Trustees Aug 17, 2011 Feb 29, 2012
Committee on Trustees Jul 02, 2012 Feb 28, 2013
Committee on Trustees Director, 8/1/13-7/31/22 Aug 01, 2013 Jul 31, 2022
Committee on Women in Mathematics Ex officio Apr 01, 2017 Jul 31, 2022
Corporate Partners Committee Ex-officio (Director) Mar 01, 2003 Jul 31, 2007
Development Committee Ex-officio (Director) Mar 01, 2003 Jul 31, 2007
Development Committee Chair & Director (8/1/13-7/31/17) Dec 12, 2012 Feb 28, 2017
Directorate Director Jul 01, 1997 Jul 31, 2007
Directorate Director Aug 01, 2013 Jul 31, 2022
Donations Acceptance Committee Aug 01, 2014 Jul 31, 2022
Education Committee Ex-officio (Director) Mar 01, 2003 Jul 31, 2007
Education Committee Ex officio, Director Aug 01, 2013 Jul 31, 2017
Educational Advisory Committee Ex-officio (Director) Mar 01, 2003 Jul 31, 2007
Educational Advisory Committee Ex officio, Director Apr 01, 2013 Jul 31, 2022
Endowment Campaign Committee Chair & Director (8/1/13-7/31/17) Mar 05, 2011 Jul 31, 2017
Evaluation Committee Ex-officio (Director) Mar 01, 2003 Jul 31, 2007
Evaluation Committee Director Aug 01, 2013 Jul 31, 2017
Finance Committee Ex-officio (Director) Jul 01, 1997 Jul 31, 2007
Finance Committee Director, 8/1/13-7/31/22 Mar 01, 2012 Jul 31, 2022
Investment Committee Director Aug 01, 2013 Jul 31, 2022
Long Range Planning Committee Ex-officio (Director) Mar 01, 2005 Apr 01, 2006
Mathical Prize Aug 01, 2014 Jul 31, 2022
Scientific Advisory Committee Ex-officio (Director) Jul 01, 1997 Jul 31, 2007
Scientific Advisory Committee Ex officio, Director Aug 01, 2013 Jul 31, 2022
Steering Committee Director Jul 01, 1997 Jul 31, 2007
Steering Committee Director, ex officio Aug 01, 2013 Jul 31, 2022
Strategic Planning Committee Dec 01, 2016 Mar 31, 2018
  1. Workshop MSRI / SLMath 40th Anniversary Symposium

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    Apr 13, 2023
    Thursday
    10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
      Algebraists Commuting in — and to — Berkeley
    David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley)
  2. Workshop [Hybrid Workshop] Critical Issues in Mathematics Education 2022: Initiating, Sustaining, and Researching Mathematics Department Transformation of Introductory Courses for STEM Majors

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    Mar 16, 2022
    Wednesday
    04:00 PM - 04:15 PM
      Welcome and MSRI Logistics
    David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley), Christine Marshall (MSRI / Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath))
  3. Workshop Critical Issues in Mathematics Education 2019: Mathematical Modeling in K-16: Community and Cultural Contexts

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    Mar 06, 2019
    Wednesday
    04:00 PM - 04:15 PM
      MSRI Workshop Overview and Logistics
    David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley), Christine Marshall (MSRI / Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath))
    Mar 07, 2019
    Thursday
    05:15 PM - 06:00 PM
      2018 Mathical Book Prize Reading and Award Ceremony
    David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley)
  4. Workshop Critical Issues in Mathematics Education 2018: Access to mathematics by opening doors for students currently excluded from mathematics

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    Feb 22, 2018
    Thursday
    05:00 PM - 05:45 PM
      Mathical Book Prize reading and award ceremony
    David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley), Paul Giganti
  5. Summer Graduate School Toric Varieties

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    Jun 24, 2009
    Wednesday
    02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
      Toric Varieties- D. Eisenbud
    David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley)
  6. Workshop MSRI's 25th Anniversary Celebration

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    Jan 29, 2008
    Tuesday
    04:00 PM - 06:00 PM
      Panel Discussion MSRI: Past, Present, and Future
    Alejandro Adem (University of British Columbia), Lenore Blum (University of California, Berkeley; Carnegie Mellon University), Robert Bryant (Duke University), Tony Chan (University of California, Los Angeles), David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley), Calvin Moore (University of California, Berkeley), Alvin Thaler (Hunter College, CUNY)
  7. Workshop The Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (K-8): Why, What and How?

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    May 25, 2005
    Wednesday
    05:00 PM - 06:15 PM
      Welcome and Introduction
    David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley), Jim Lewis (University of Nebraska)
    May 28, 2005
    Saturday
    10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
      What Are the Critical Next Steps with Respect to Policy? What are Directions for Research? Come Back to Evidence.
    Deborah Ball (University of Michigan), Ruth Cossey (Mills College), David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley), Jeremy Kilpatrick
  8. Workshop Introductory Workshop in Commutative Algebra

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    Sep 09, 2002
    Monday
    08:00 AM - 05:00 PM
      The Geometry of Syzygies, I
    David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley)
    08:00 AM - 05:00 PM
      The Geometry of Syzygies, II
    David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley)
    08:00 AM - 05:00 PM
      The Geometry of Syzygies, III
    David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley)
    Sep 11, 2002
    Wednesday
    09:00 AM - 10:00 AM
      The geometry of syzygies
    David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley)
    Sep 13, 2002
    Friday
    09:00 AM - 10:00 AM
      The geometry of syzygies, continued
    David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley)
    02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
      The geometry of syzygies, continued
    David Eisenbud (University of California, Berkeley)