This biennial lecture series honors the memory of Arthur B. Coble (1878-1966), Professor of Mathematics at the University of Illinois from 1918 to 1947. The late Professor Coble's family established a fund to endow a series of public lectures on mathematics to be delivered by outstanding mathematicians. The Coble Memorial Lecture series is offered in alternate years with the Tondeur Lecture series.
Previous Lectures
| Year | Lecturer | Lecture Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1970-71 | Irving Kaplansky | The Hilbert Problems |
| 1971-72 | Samuel Eilenberg | Theory of automata Topology and automata Categories and automata |
| 1972-73 | Derrick Lehmer | Unusual Mathematical uses of computers Some interesting infinite series Permutation structure and partitions |
| 1973-74 | Lipman Bers | Some aspects of uniformization |
| 1974-75 | Richard Duffin | Optimization problems of mathematical science |
| 1975-76 | Alonzo Church | Set theory with a universal set |
| 1976-77 | Andrew M. Gleason | Coding theory and combinatorial accidents |
| 1977-78 | George W. Mackey | Noncommutative harmonic analysis and its applications |
| 1978-79 | Saunders MacLane | The development of abstract mathematics Abstract algebra and mathematics today Possibilities for the future |
| 1979-80 | Paul Erdös | Recent results and open problems in number theory Recent results and open problems in combinatorics Recent results and open problems in set theory |
| 1980-81 | Shiing-Shen Chern | Exterior differential systems |
| 1981-82 | Ron L. Graham | Bin packing: A paradigm in the analysis of algorithms Combinatorial number theory Euclidean Ramsey theory |
| 1982-83 | Richard V. Kadison | Non-commutative analysis |
| 1983-84 | Jean-Louis Verdier | Solitons, symmetries and geometry |
| 1984-85 | H. Jerome Keisler | Logical areas in probability theory |
| 1985-86 | J. William Helton | Operator theory, complex variables and optimization problems in electrical engineering |
| 1986-87 | Chas. T. Fefferman | Mathematical problems of quantum mechanics |
| 1987-88 | Wolfgang Schmidt | The number of solutions of diophantine equations A p-adic method in diophantine equations Quadratic forms and the geometry of numbers |
| 1989-90 | Donald A. Martin | A chronological survey of Determinacy |
| 1990-91 | Burgess J. Davis | Lifetimes of conditioned Brownian Motion, and the shapes of the heat kernels |
| 1991-92 | Israel Gelfand | What is a discriminant and resultant of algebraic equations A new proof of the oscillation theorem for Sturm-Lionville equations Cohomology of Poisson algebras |
| 1992-93 | Robert Steinberg | Central extensions of finite groups, Lie groups, and others |
| 1993-94 | Béla Bollobás | Projections of bodies and hereditary properties Oriented percolation in two dimensions Discrete isoperimetric inequalities |
| 1994-95 | Nigel Hitchin | Monopoles revised Symmetric Monopoles The geometry and topology of monopole moduli spaces |
| 1995-96 | Kenneth Ribet | Fermat's Last Theorem Perfect Powers in arithmetic progression Component groups and degrees of modular parametrizations |
| 1996-97 | Imre Bárány | Affine Perimeter and limit shape On the convex hull of the integer points in a ball A colourful version of Carathéodory's theorem with applications |
| 1997-98 | Freeman Dyson | Life in the Universe I. The Paradox of Order and Disorder Life in the Universe II. The Search for Life Does the Electron Charge Stay Constant as the Universe Evolves? |
| 1998-99 | Yuri Manin University of Moscow |
Quantum Computing Quantum Cohomology and Mirror Pattern I Quantum Cohomology and Mirror Pattern II |
| 1999-00 | George E. Andrews Pennsylvania State University |
Ramanujan's Lost Notebook The Rogers-Ramanujan Identities: Some History and Recent Developments Partitions and Positivity |
| 2000-01 | Michael Artin MIT |
Noncommutative Algebra in Dimension 2 Noncommutative Projective Surfaces Orders over Surfaces |
| 2002 | Noga Alon Tel Aviv University and Institute for Advanced Study |
Methods in Modern Combinatorics: Dimension, Distances, and Information Theory Polynomials, Addition and Coloring The Probabilistic Method |
| 2003 | Walter Neumann Columbia University |
The Volume of Three-Manifolds |
| 2004 | David Eisenbud Director, Mathematical Sciences Research Institute and Professor, University of California, Berkeley |
Aspects of Elimination Theory: I. Resultants, from 1693 to now II. Exterior algebra methods in algebraic geometry III. Instant elimination, and torsion in symmetric algebras |
| 2005 | Peter Sarnak Princeton University |
Zeta functions and spectral theory |
| 2006 | Efim Zelmanov University of California, San Diego |
Infinite dimensional Lie (super)algebras On Golod-Shafarevich groups Some Ring - Theoretic problems inspired by Combinatorial Group Theory |
| 2007 | I.M. Singer MIT |
Index Theory: Past, Present, and Future |
| 2008 | Ib Madsen University of Aarhus, Denmark |
Moduli Spaces and Topology |
| 2008 | Peter Ozsváth Columbia University |
Heegaard Floer homology and knots I and II Bordered Heegaard Floer homology |
| 2011 | Ngo Bao Chau University of Chicago |
Geometry of the Hitchin fibration |
| 2014 | Ian Agol University of California, Berkeley |
The virtual Haken conjecture |
| 2016 | Sorin Popa UCLA |
I. Classification of II_1 factors arising from free groups acting on spaces II&III. Approximating freeness under constraints |
| 2018 | Andrea Bertozzi UCLA |
cancelled |
| 2020 | Frank Calegari University of Chicago |
"Digits" / "Counting" / "Coble" |