News Release
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May 1, 2006
Boise State Math Professor Wins $25,000 First Prize in
International Competition in Vienna, Austria
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Justin Moore |
Boise State University mathematics professor Justin Moore is $25,000 richer
today after winning first prize in an international mathematics competition
in Vienna, Austria.
Moore was named the top winner Friday by former world chess champion Garry
Kasparov at a banquet at the famous Belvedere Palace in Vienna. He was among
10 finalists from around the world who competed in a Young Scholar’s
Competition as part of a symposium to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the
birth of the famed Austrian mathematician Kurt Goedel.
“I was surprised to win, although I was also hopeful,” said Moore, who
arrived in Vienna on a flight from Boise only a few hours before the math
competition began last Thursday. The competition consisted of each
contestant giving a 10-minute presentation to a panel of international
judges on a research proposal that related to Goedel’s landmark
contributions. Afterwards, Moore said he felt he had done well in his
presentation, but it wasn’t until the following evening that he learned he
had won.
Moore said he will save the 20,000 euro prize — about $25,000 at current
exchange rates — while he and his wife spend some time considering how to
best use or invest the sum. Two runners-up were also named by judges in the
competition, and each received 5,000 euros, or about $6,200.
“We’re all extremely proud of Justin. He’s an outstanding mathematician and
our students are fortunate to have him in the department,” said Alan
Hausrath, chair of the Department of Mathematics at Boise State. “This is
just one sign of all the progress we've made over the last 10 years.”
The Vienna competition was part of the “Horizons of Truth Goedel Centenary
2006,” a four-day symposium attended by mathematicians from around the
world. Moore was selected for the Young Scholar’s Competition by a panel of
international judges after submitting his resumé and a brief summary of his
research proposal. Sixty-three applicants, all born in 1970 or later, vied
for the 10 finalist spots. Moore received an all-expenses paid trip to
Vienna for the event.
Goedel, a contemporary and friend of Albert Einstein, is famous for his
wide-ranging theories that continue to influence issues as diverse as
theology, philosophy, cosmology and artificial intelligence. One of his
best-known works, published when he was only 25, deals with the notion that
not all truths, even in mathematics, are provable.
In the research proposal he presented to the judges, Moore suggested a way
to approach the “Continuum Problem,” which deals with the size of the set of
real numbers. Other finalists presented proposals in areas ranging from
“Goedel and German Idealism” to “Software Verification of Goedel’s Second
Incompleteness Theorem.”
Moore joined Boise State’s faculty in 2001. He has a Ph.D. in mathematics
from the University of Toronto.
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Contact: Justin Moore, Department of Mathematics, (208) 426-3332,
justin@diamond.boisestate.edu
Media Contact: Janelle Brown, University Communications (208)
426-1790, jbrown2@boisestate.edu
Boise State University is the largest institution of higher education in
Idaho with about 18,600 students and 2,200 faculty and staff. More than 190
undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and technical degrees are offered within
eight colleges. A metropolitan university located in the capital city, Boise
State is committed to life-enhancing research, teaching excellence and
public service.
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Last reviewed on Wednesday, January 03, 2007