Presidential Lecture by Ken Ono

Why Does Ramanujan, The Man Who Knew Infinity, Matter?

This lecture is about Srinivasa Ramanujan, “The Man Who Knew Infinity.” Ramanujan was a self-trained two-time college dropout who left behind 3 notebooks filled with equations that mathematicians are still trying to figure out today. He claimed that his ideas came to him as visions from an Indian goddess. This lecture gives many reasons why Ramanujan matters today. The answers extend far beyond his legacy in science and mathematics. The speaker was an Associate Producer of the film “The Man Who Knew Infinity” (starring Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons) about Ramanujan. He will share several clips from the film in the lecture, and will also tell stories about the production and promotion of the film.

Ken Ono

Ken Ono is the STEM Advisor to the Provost and the Marvin Rosenblum Professor of Mathematics at the University of Virginia. His research expertise includes data science, mathematics, and statistics. He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, Packard Fellowship, Sloan Fellowship, an NSF CAREER Award, and a PECASE Award from President Clinton. In 2005, he was named an NSF Director’s Distinguished Teaching Scholar. He is a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, an Honorary Member of the Indian Academy of Sciences, and an Honorary Member of the Romanian Academy of Sciences. His service has included various leadership roles, such as Vice President of the American Mathematical Society, Chair of the Mathematics Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, member of the NSA Advisory Board, member of the US National Committee for Mathematics at the US National Academy of Sciences, member of the advisory board of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences, US delegate to the General Assembly of the International Mathematics Union, and Chairman of the UVA Department of Mathematics. He earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from UCLA in 1993, and his B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Chicago in 1989.  

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