Prize History

Citation

The 2025 George Pólya Prize for Mathematical Exposition is awarded to Mason Porter for his outstanding exposition of the mathematical sciences to audiences at all levels and interests, including review articles in networks, complex systems and dynamics.

Selection Committee

• Sonja Petrovic (Chair)
• Aydin Buluc
• Emily Evans
• Jan Modersitzki
• Gianluigi Rozza

Citation

The 2023 George Pólya Prize for Mathematical Exposition is awarded to Hannah Fry for sustained excellence in conveying the power and appeal of mathematics to large audiences of colleagues, domain experts, students, and the public.

Selection Committee

• Tobin Driscoll (Chair)
• Joerg Gablonsky
• Padma Raghavan
• Robert Scheichl
• Mahamadi Warma

Citation

The 2021 George Pólya Prize for Mathematical Exposition is awarded to Nicholas J. Higham for the crisp clarity, elegance, and accessibility of his mathematical and popular exposition on a broad range of topics in applied mathematics.

Selection Committee

• Nilima Nigam (Chair)
• Andrew Bernoff
• Christopher Budd
• Anne Greenbaum
• Shawn W. Walker

Citation

The 2019 George Pólya Prize for Mathematical Exposition is awarded to Steven Strogatz for his extensive and brilliant works conveying the fascination and the impact of mathematics to the general public through numerous books, newspaper and magazine articles, and radio, television, web, and video appearances, and for his important and influential textbook on nonlinear dynamics and chaos.

Selection Committee

• Douglas Arnold (Chair)
• Daniela Calvetti
• Timothy Chartier
• Zdenek Strakos
• Pauline van den Driessche

Citation

The 2017 George Pólya Prize for Mathematical Exposition is awarded to Nick Trefethen for the exceptionally well-expressed accumulated insights found in his books, papers, essays, and talks... His enthusiastic approach to his subject, his leadership, and his delight at the enlightenment achieved are unique and inspirational, motivating others to learn and do applied mathematics through the practical combination of deep analysis and algorithmic dexterity.

Selection Committee

• Robert O’Malley (Chair)
• Arieh Iserles
• Amy Langville
• Peter Olver
• Ferdinand Verhulst

Citation

The 2015 George Pólya Prize for Mathematical Exposition is awarded to Gerhard Wanner primarily for the five very readable books that he has co-authored. They display deep mathematics, presented with elegance, enthusiasm, wit, scholarship, and much history. These books have uniquely delineated numerical ODEs (especially stiff equations) and geometric integration and created an historical perspective for the teaching and understanding of analysis and geometry.

Selection Committee

• Robert O’Malley (Chair)
• Philip Holmes
• Ilse Ipsen
• Arieh Iserles
• David Watkins