Ingrid Daubechies
Personal Information
Born: 1954
Country of Birth: Belgium
Nationality: Belgium
Ethnicity: White
Education
Vrije Universiteit Brussels, 1975 undergraduate degree in Physics, 1980 PhD Theoretical Physics
Professional Life
Field of Study: Physics; Mathematics
Institution/Corporation: Duke University; Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences; Bell Labs
Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degree: 2010, Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU); Member: National Academy of Engineering (2015), National Academy of Sciences (1998), American Academy of Arts & Sciences (1993), on the Board of Directors of Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education (EDGE), Academia Europea (2015), foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts & Sciences (1999), American Philosophical Society (2003), Fellow Association for Women in Mathematics (2019), German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (2019), Internatioanl Mathematical Union
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2023, Wolf Prize in Mathematics; 1992, MacArthur Fellowship; 2000, NAS Award in Mathematics; 2006, Noether Lecturer; 2011, Leroy P. Steele Prize, AMS; 2012, Nemmer Prize in Mathematics, Northwestern University; 2012, BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (with David Mumford); 2019, L Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award; 2020, Princess of Asturias Award; 1984, Louis Empain Prize for Physics; 1994, Steele Prize for Exposition, AMS; 1997, AMS Ruth Lyttle Satter Prize; 1998, Golden Jubilee Award for Technological Innovation, IEEE; 2000, Basic Research Award, Eduard Rhein Foundation; 2005, Josiah Willard Gibbs Lecture; 2006, Pioneer Prize, International Council for Industrial & Applied Mathematics (with Heinz Engl); 2011, IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal; 2011, Benjamin Franklin Medal In Electrical Engineering, Franklin Institute; 2012, granted title of Baroness by King Albert II of Belgium; 2015, Math+X Investigator Award, Simons Foundation; 2018, William Benter Prize in Applied Mathematics, City University of Hong Kong; 2018, Fudan-Zhongzhi Science Award
Achievements: Known for her work with wavelets in image compression-the orthogonal Daubechies wavelet & biorthogonal CDF wavelet; her research involves the use of automatic methods from mathematics, technology, & biology to extract information from samples like bone & teeth; developed image processing techniques that are used to restore art work & help establish authenticity & age of famous works of art; 1st woman President of the International Mathematical Union (2011-2014); 1st female full professor of mathematics at Princeton University; in 2016, co-founded Duke Summer Workshop in Mathematics (SWIM); helps restore art masterpieces;2000, 1st female awarded the National Academy of Science Award in Mathematics; 1st female recipient of the William Benter Prize (2018); 1st woman to receive the Wolf Prize in Mathematics (2023); 3rd female to ever give the Josiah Willard Gibbs Lecture
Is a Baroness
Developed image processing technology used to establish the age & authenticity of some of the world's most famous works of art
1st female president of the International Mathematics Union (2011-14)
On the Board of Directors of EDGE, an organization that helps women enter graduate studies in mathematics & science
As a child didn't count sheep to fall asleep, multiplying numbers by 2 & familiarizing herself with the properties of exponential growth instead
1st female full professor of mathematics at Princeton
2020 & 2021, with Dominique Erhmann, led a team of mathematicians & artists who built the touring art & math installation known as Mathemalchemy
Worked on the team restoring the Ghent Altarpiece by Hubert & Jan van Eyck
She & her team were able to decipher the text of the polyptych attributed to Thomas Aquinas
1st female recipient of the National Academy of Sciences Award in Mathematics (2000)
2023, 1st female recipient of the Wolf Prize in Mathematics
1st female recipient of the William Benter Prize (2018)
Holds 1 patent