Investiture Ceremony to present the honoris causa held in
Loyola College in Chennai on April 6, 2013
The University of Hyderabad honoured eminent mathematicians Prof. C S Seshadri and Prof. David Mumford at a glittering function organised in Chennai. The degree of Doctor of Science (honoris causa) was conferred earlier by the University and the Investiture Ceremony to present the award was held in the L.S. Hall of Loyola College in Chennai on April 6, 2013 at 4:00 p.m. Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ramakrishna Ramaswamy presented the award to Prof. C S Seshadri. Prof. S Ramanan received the award on behalf of Prof. Mumford, who is abroad.
The function was attended by mathematicians, research scholars from Chennai Mathematical Institute, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Loyola College and other institutions in Chennai. Prof. T Amaranath, Senior Professor in School of Mathematics and Statistics (SMS), UoH gave the welcome. Prof. S Kumaresan, Dean, SMS was also present.
Prof. C. S. Seshadri has been a major influence in mathematics for the last sixty years, from the time when did his B.A. (Hons.) from Madras University in 1953. After receiving his Ph.D. from Bombay University in 1958, Prof. Seshadri worked at the TIFR till 1984. From 1984 to 1989 he was at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc.), Chennai, and from 1989 to 2010 as the Founding Director of the Chennai Mathematical Institute, which he developed into a leading institution for the study of mathematics in India. Prof. Seshadri’s significant contributions to Algebraic Geometry include his work with M.S. Narasimhan on the Narasimhan-Seshadri Theorem and Unitary Vector Bundles. His study of Geometric Invariant Theory and of Schubert Varieties is widely recognized. For his contributions Prof. Seshadri has been honoured with the Bhatnagar Prize, the Srinivasa Ramanujan Medal from the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Honorary D.Sc. of Banaras Hindu University, the TWAS Science Award, Fellowship of the Royal Society and membership of the United States National Academy of Sciences. The country has honoured him with the Padma Bhushan.
Professor David Mumford is Professor Emeritus at the Brown University. He spent major part of his career at Harvard University, from 1953 to 1995. A recipient of the Fields Medal in 1974, Professor Mumford’s contributions to Algebraic Geometry have been seminal and have complemented the work of Professor Seshadri, among others. Professor Mumford has wide-ranging interests, some of which have been described in his book Indra’s Pearls. He has been a recipient of numerous other awards that include Shaw Prize in 2006, Steel Prize in 2007, Wolf Prize in 2008 and the National Medal of Science of the US in 2010.