Robion Kirby
Robion Kirby | |
|---|---|
Kirby in 2009 | |
| Born | February 25, 1938 Chicago, Illinois, US |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago |
| Known for | Kirby–Siebenmann class Kirby calculus |
| Awards | Oswald Veblen Prize in Geometry (1971) NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing (1995) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | University of California, Berkeley |
| Thesis | Smoothing Locally Flat Imbeddings (1965) |
| Doctoral advisor | Eldon Dyer |
| Doctoral students | |
Robion Cromwell Kirby (born February 25, 1938) is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley who specializes in low-dimensional topology. Together with Laurent C. Siebenmann he developed the Kirby–Siebenmann invariant for classifying the piecewise linear structures on a topological manifold. He also proved the fundamental result on the Kirby calculus, a method for describing 3-manifolds and smooth 4-manifolds by surgery on framed links. Along with his significant mathematical contributions, he has over 50 doctoral students and is the editor of an influential problem list.