Felix Otto (mathematician)

{{short description|German mathematician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}} {{Infobox scientist |name = Felix Otto |image = Felix Otto.jpg |image_size = |caption = Otto at Oberwolfach, 2009 |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1966|5|19|df=y}} |birth_place = Munich, Bavaria, West Germany |residence = |death_date = |death_place = |field = Mathematics |work_institution = Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, University of Leipzig, New York University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Bonn, University of California, Santa Barbara |doctoral_advisor = Stephan Luckhaus |doctoral_students = |known_for = Otto–Villani theorem Otto calculus |prizes = Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2006 Blaise Pascal Medal, European Academy of Sciences (2017) |religion = |footnotes = }} '''Felix Otto''' (born 19 May 1966) is a German mathematician and professor.

==Biography==

Otto was born on 19 May 1966 in Munich, Bavaria. He studied mathematics at the University of Bonn, finishing his PhD thesis in 1993 under the supervision of Stephan Luckhaus.<ref>{{MathGenealogy|id=27506}}</ref> After postdoctoral studies at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University and at Carnegie Mellon University, in 1997 he became a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. From 1999 to 2010 he was a professor for applied mathematics at the University of Bonn, and he currently serves as one of the directors of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig.

== Work == Otto specialises in materials science, and he has worked on the theory of partial differential equations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=International award for Leipzig mathematician Felix Otto |url=https://idw-online.de/en/news698252 |access-date=2023-12-20 |website=idw-online.de}}</ref> He is especially known for his work on the Otto–Villani theorem and the invention of the Otto calculus.

==Honours==

In 2006, he was awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize by the German Research Foundation, which is the considered the most important research award in Germany.

In 2008, he became a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.<ref>{{cite web |title= Felix Otto |url=https://www.leopoldina.org/mitgliederverzeichnis/mitglieder/member/Member/show/felix-otto/|publisher=German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina |access-date=26 May 2021}}</ref>

In 2009, he was awarded a Gauss Lectureship by the German Mathematical Society.

In 2024, he was awarded the Cantor Medal by the German Mathematical Society.<ref>{{cite web |title=Felix Otto receives the Cantor Medal |url=https://www.mis.mpg.de/news/felix-otto-receives-the-cantor-medal|publisher=Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences|access-date=29 June 2024}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} *{{in lang|de}} [https://www.dfg.de/aktuelles_presse/preise/leibniz_preis/2006/otto.html DFG portrait] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090419231833/http://www.dfg.de/aktuelles_presse/preise/leibniz_preis/2006/otto.html |date=19 April 2009 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otto, Felix}} Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century German mathematicians Category:University of Bonn alumni Category:Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences alumni Category:Carnegie Mellon University alumni Category:Academic staff of the University of Bonn Category:University of California, Santa Barbara faculty Category:Studienstiftung alumni Category:Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners Category:21st-century German mathematicians Category:Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Category:Max Planck Institute directors