14 Facts About Michael Aschbacher

Michael George Aschbacher was born on April 8,1944 and is an American mathematician best known for his work on finite groups.

Michael Aschbacher was a leading figure in the completion of the classification of finite simple groups in the 1970s and 1980s.

Michael Aschbacher joined the faculty of the California Institute of Technology in 1970 and became a full professor in 1976.

Michael Aschbacher was awarded the Cole Prize in 1980, and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1990.

In 1992, Michael Aschbacher was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Michael Aschbacher was awarded the Rolf Schock Prize for Mathematics by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 2011.

In 1973, Michael Aschbacher became a leading figure in the classification of finite simple groups.

Michael Aschbacher considered himself somewhat of an outsider in the world of conventional group theory, claiming that he was not "plugged into the system at that point in time".

Michael Aschbacher only became interested in finite simple groups as a postdoctorate.

Michael Aschbacher wrote his dissertation in combinatorics and was able to utilize many techniques developed in this area to make early contributions to the study of finite simple groups, which surprised the community of researchers.

In particular, Daniel Gorenstein, another leader of the classification of finite simple groups, said that Michael Aschbacher's entrance was "dramatic".

Michael Aschbacher was proving one major result after another and when he announced his progress at the Duluth conference, mathematicians were convinced that the problem was almost solved.

Michael Aschbacher's papers, beginning with the first he wrote in the field for publication, were very difficult to read.

That Michael Aschbacher's proofs were hard to read was not due to a lack of ability, but rather to the astounding complexity of the ideas he was able to produce.