Member of the French Academy of Sciences and Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute of Orsay, Université Paris-Saclay, France, Jean-Michel Bismut, has been awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by the Department of Mathematics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
The award ceremony was held on Thursday, 24 September 2026, in the University’s Great Hall.
Proceedings opened with welcoming remarks by Professor Gerasimos Siasos, Rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
Next, Iakovos Androulidakis, Professor of Geometry in the Department of Mathematics, School of Science at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, spoke about Professor Bismut’s work and personal qualities.
The formal conferment then took place with Professor Ioannis Emmanouil, Chair of the Department of Mathematics, reading the official citation.
Following this, Professor Aristeidis Parmakelis, Dean of the School of Science, invested the honouree with the School’s academic gown.
The ceremony closed with the awardee, Professor Emeritus Jean-Michel Bismut, giving a talk on ‘Lisbon-Athens-Paris: The Travails of a Mathematician’.
In his welcome address, the Rector, Professor Gerasimos Siasos, said, among other things:
‘Professor Bismut’s work has made major contributions to several leading areas of contemporary mathematics, including probability theory, geometric analysis and index theory. His research has brought together different areas of mathematics and has played a significant role in their development.
The international standing of his work is reflected not only in his extensive research record, but also in the numerous distinctions he has received throughout his academic career. He has been a member of the French Academy of Sciences since 1990, and in 2021 he was awarded the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences.
Today’s ceremony is especially significant because Professor Bismut’s connection with Greece is also deeply personal. Born in Lisbon, he moved to Greece with his family at the age of fifteen and spent a year in Athens before continuing his education in Paris. In this sense, the title he has chosen for his lecture is particularly meaningful, bringing together places that have played an important part in his long and distinguished journey, both in life and in science.
His connection with Greece has also taken on an academic dimension. In March 2023, Professor Bismut was the keynote speaker at the international conference “Noncommutative Geometry and Representation Theory” organised by the Department of Mathematics and held in this very building.’
Photos: Dimitris Konstantinidis
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