Cédric Villani, mathematician

IHES-Université de Lyon chair in Analysis

Cédric Villani's research focuses on the study of partial differential equations and their applications to physics, particularly to statistical physics and optimal transport theory.

Born in 1973, Cédric Villani entered the preparatory classes at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris and joined the École normale supérieure (Paris) in 1992. After passing the agrégation in mathematics and obtaining a DEA in numerical analysis from Sorbonne University, he was an “agrégé-préparateur” from 1996 to 2000. He obtained his thesis in 1998, at the University of Paris-Dauphine, under the direction of the mathematician Pierre-Louis Lions (Fields Medal 1994), studying the Boltzmann and Landau equations in kinetic theory of gases and plasmas. In 2000, he became a professor at the École normale supérieure de Lyon, then at the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, where he remained until 2010. He was director of the Institut Henri Poincaré from 2009 to 2017.

Important recognitions underline the importance of his work. In 2009 he received the Henri Poincaré prize, and in 2010 he was awarded the Fermat prize and the prestigious Fields medal, the highest recognition in mathematics. Since then, he is strongly committed to the popularization of science through the publication of several books, such as the autobiographical essay “Theorem living”.

As a mathematician, Cédric Villani has long been involved in the scientific life of the Institute, where he regularly visited and where he gave lectures and Cours de l’IHES. As director of the Institut Henri Poincaré, he also promoted important collaborations between the two institutes, such as the initiatives led by the LabEx CARMIN (Centre d’Accueil et de Rencontres Mathématiques Internationales – which also includes the CIMPA and the CIRM).

The Chair held by Cédric Villani at IHES is funded by the Simons Foundation.

 

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