Stony Brook mathematicians join European engineering academy

Two Stony Brook University faculty members were elected to the European Academy of Engineering on Monday, joining a small group of researchers selected from around the world.

Alexander Zamolodchikov, who holds the C. N. Yang/Wei Deng endowed chair in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and John Pardon, a professor at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics and the Department of Mathematics, both received the 2026 honor. Pardon also won the Fields Medal earlier this year, a top prize in mathematics.

The academy’s Fundamental Sciences and Mathematics Division chose the two professors from a larger pool of candidates. The European Academy of Engineering, which began operations in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1992, uses a peer review process among its current members to select new participants. The organization focuses on shaping policy, public health initiatives, and science education.

College of Arts and Sciences dean David Wrobel described the selection as strong validation of the men’s work in advancing fundamental knowledge. “We are proud to celebrate this recognition of both of these distinguished members of our community, which honors their individual scholarly achievements as well as the spirit of discovery that drives our community forward,” Wrobel said.

George Sterman, a distinguished professor of physics and director of the C. N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics, noted that the university is fortunate to have Zamolodchikov, often called Sasha, on its staff. “This honor recognizes the breadth and importance of his visionary research, which continues to inform and inspire researchers worldwide,” Sterman said. Ludmil Katzarkov, director of the Simons Center, added that Pardon’s work has addressed difficult problems in geometry and topology, including solving a knot distortion problem posed in 1983 and proving the three-dimensional case of the Hilbert-Smith conjecture.

The academy will hold its next annual meeting in the coming year, where new members will formally present their ongoing research projects to the broader membership.