In Memoriam: Jim Simons (1938-2024)

The CRM community was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Jim Simons, co-founder and chairman of the Simons Foundation, on May 10 in New York City at the age of 86.

Gifted in the field of mathematics, Jim Simons obtained his undergraduate degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He went on to earn his PhD at the University of California at Berkeley in 1961, at the age of 23.

Following his PhD he taught at MIT and Harvard University and worked as a code breaker and researcher.  In 1968, he became Head of the Mathematics Department at Stony Brook University. As a mathematical researcher, particularly in the field of geometry, he made important contributions, including the Chern-Simons invariants which subsequently found applications in quantum field theory and string theory in physics. He was awarded the prestigious Oswald Veblen Prize by the American Mathematical Society (AMS).

In 1978, he left teaching to set up Renaissance Technologies, an investment management firm that employs mathematical and statistical methods in the design and execution of its investment programs. He called on the best mathematicians, physicists and computer scientists to develop instruments that would outperform conventional analysts in predicting future price movements.

His philanthropic work through the Simons Foundation has had, and continues to have, a profound impact on mathematics and fundamental science.  The CRM and its community have greatly benefitted from this generosity by means of the Simons-CRM Scholar-in-Residence program and the CRM-Simons Bridge for Postdoctoral Fellowships program.