{"604518":{"#nid":"604518","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robin Thomas Awarded Coveted SIAM Fellowship","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003EProf \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/people.math.gatech.edu\/~thomas\/\u0022\u003ERobin Thomas\u003C\/a\u003E has long been an exemplary example for research excellence and dedication to mentoring PhD students and postdocs. Robin is a world leader in graph theory and has published over 100 research papers appearing in top journals (including the Annals of Mathematics and the Journal of the AMS). His extraordinary research record includes a number of major results any one of which would be considered as a lifetime highlight. Robin was awarded the prestigious Fulkerson prize twice and the Neuron Award for Lifetime Achievement in Mathematics (Czech Republic).\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003EAmong Robin\u0026#39;s many notable achievements, perhaps none is more astounding than his work on the Four Color Theorem. The Four Color Theorem (4CT) was first proved in 1976 by Appel and Haken, using a computer. However, this computer proof cannot be verified by hand, and even the part that is supposedly hand-checkable is complicated\/tedious. To dispel doubts about the Appel-Haken proof, Robin, along with Robertson, Sanders, and Seymour, published a new and much simpler proof in 1997.\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003EAs a possible generalization of the Four Color Conjecture (now a theorem), Hadwiger conjectured in 1943 that every graph with no K t+1-minor is t-colorable. It is easy to prove the Hadwiger conjecture for t\u0026le;3, but the case t=4 is difficult and equivalent to 4CT. In 1993, Robin, along with Roberston and Seymour, proved that the case t=5 can be reduced to the 4CT, by showing that a smallest counterexample to the Hadwiger conjecture for t=5 must be an apex graph. The proof is a tour de force, which is computer-free. This work was awarded the Fulkerson prize.\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003ERobin was again awarded the Fulkerson prize for his work on the proof of Berge\u0026#39;s conjecture, which consumes 179 pages in the Annals of Mathematics.\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003EAdditionally, Robin, again with Robertson and Seymour, characterized those bipartite graphs with Pfaffian orientations, hence, solving many problems of interest, such as a permanent problem of Polya, the even directed cycle problem, and the sign-nonsingular matrix problem for square matrices.\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EProf Prasad Tetali, former interim chair of the SoM, had this to say about Robin:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cblockquote\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003ERobin has a remarkable record as a teacher and a mentor. His tireless efforts to challenge and encourage young talents at critical early stages of their careers has had a profound impact on the lives of a large number of PhD students and postdocs.\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003EPhD Students and Postdocs of Robin Thomas include:\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EZdenek Dvorak (Charles University, Czech),\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EBertrand Guenin (University of Waterloo, Canada),\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EDaniel Kral (University of Warwick, UK),\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EChun-Hung Liu (Princeton University),\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003ESergey Norine (McGill University, Canada),\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EDhruv Mubayi (University of Illinois at Chicago),\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003ESang-il Oum (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology),\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003ELuke Postle (University of Waterloo, Canada), and\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EXingxing Yu (Georgia Institute of Technology).\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESee also the CoS story \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/604660\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003Ehttps:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/604660\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Prof Robin Thomas of the SoM has recieved this prestigious award based on years of excellence in research and mentoring."}],"uid":"34518","created_gmt":"2018-03-30 15:22:11","changed_gmt":"2018-04-09 17:49:57","author":"sbarone7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-03-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-03-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72092":{"id":"72092","type":"image","title":"Robin Thomas - Profile Image","body":null,"created":"1449177434","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:14","changed":"1475894651","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:11","alt":"Robin Thomas - Profile Image","file":{"fid":"193642","name":"robint.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robint_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robint_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":80164,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/robint_0.png?itok=8SejMFqT"}}},"media_ids":["72092"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/sinews.siam.org\/Details-Page\/siam-announces-class-of-2018-fellows?_ga=2.244440064.485715959.1522334509-579723396.1508864473","title":"2018 SIAM Fellows"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/604660","title":"CoS Story"}],"groups":[{"id":"1279","name":"School of Mathematics"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"173647","name":"_for_math_site_"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:thomas@math.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ERobin Thomas\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}