Benedict H. Gross Distinguished Visitors Program Will Bring Prominent Mathematicians to Harvard

The Department of Mathematics launched the Benedict H. Gross Distinguished Visitors Program earlier this year thanks to a new gift from William R. Hearst III ’72. Each year, the department will invite a prominent mathematician from another institution to teach, give lectures, and engage with students and faculty. The visitors will reside at Harvard for a minimum of one month and up to a full semester.

“This gift will make a tremendous difference to the range of math we’re able to bring to Harvard,” said Michael Hopkins, George Putnam Professor of Pure and Applied Math, who helped to establish the program during his time as department chair. “In 25 years, I think we’ll be able to look back and the legacy of this visitors program — the names of famous people who spent time at Harvard — will be its own treasure.”

The Distinguished Visitors Program was endowed by Hearst, a former math concentrator who named it honor of his former classmate Benedict “Dick” Gross,  George Vasmer Leverett Professor of Mathematics, Emeritus, who also served as dean of Harvard College from 2003 to 2007.

“It’s about bringing new oxygen into the department — visitors who will be inspirational to the faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates,” said Hearst, chairman of the Hearst Corporation.

Read the full Harvard Gazette article about the Benedict H. Gross Distinguished Visitors Program