"Jim's stereotypical humor aside, he brought his curiosity and intellect to bear on the role and built one of the nation's top math departments during his 10-year tenure as chair," reads a tribute to the man Stony Brook University says was its "most vocal champion."
James Simons, who died last week at the age of 86, led the university's math department from 1968 to 1978 and was also a member of the Stony Brook Foundation Board of Trustees for more than 30 years.
"Stony Brook is incredibly fortunate to have been a part of his life and to have shared in his generosity, brilliance, humor, and unending curiosity about the world around him," says university president Maurie McInnis in a statement.
"The University is infinitely better because of Jim, from the students he taught to the research he led, the faculty he supported, and the programs he helped build," adds McInnis.
Simons was known for his work in the areas of string theory and geometry, as well as for his work with Nobel Prize-winning physics professor C.N.
Yang, reports the New York Times.
"From Archimedes to Newton to Einstein, much of the most profound work in physics has been deeply intertwined with the geometric side of mathematics,"
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