Mark Braverman
(Photo by Lance Murphey)
Mark Braverman, an alumnus and former faculty member of the University of Toronto Department of Computer Science, has been awarded the 2022 Abacus Medal by the International Mathematical Union (IMU).
The IMU Abacus Medal is awarded to mathematicians under 40 for “outstanding contributions in Mathematical Aspects of Information Science,” and is widely considered one of the highest honours a computer scientist can receive.
The IMU awarded Braverman the prize “for his path-breaking research developing the theory of information complexity,” according to the award citation. “His work has led to direct-sum theorems giving lower bounds on amortized communication, ingenious protocol compression methods, and new interactive communication protocols resilient to noise,” the IMU wrote.
Braverman earned both a master’s degree and PhD from U of T’s Department of Computer Science. During his doctoral studies, he was advised by University Professor Emeritus Stephen Cook. Braverman returned to U of T as an assistant professor jointly appointed to the Department of Mathematics and Department of Computer Science during the 2010–2011 academic year. He is currently a professor in the Department of Computer Science at Princeton University.
“I am very grateful for the generous mentorship I've received at the University of Toronto, from my PhD adviser Professor Stephen Cook, from Professor Michael Yampolsky, and others,” Braverman said. “I have learned much, not just about specific technical matters, but more broadly about being a better scientist, colleague and mentor.”