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American mathematician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard Gordon Swan (/swɑːn/; born 1933) is an American mathematician who is known for the Serre–Swan theorem relating the geometric notion of vector bundles to the algebraic concept of projective modules,[1] and for the Swan representation, an l-adic projective representation of a Galois group.[2] His work has mainly been in the area of algebraic K-theory.
As an undergraduate at Princeton University, Swan was one of five winners in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition in 1952.[3] He earned his Ph.D. in 1957 from Princeton University under the supervision of John Coleman Moore.[4]
In 1969 he proved in full generality what is now known as the Stallings–Swan theorem.[5][6] He is the Louis Block Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of Chicago.[7]
His doctoral students at Chicago include Charles Weibel, also known for his work in K-theory.[4]
In 1970 Swan was awarded the American Mathematical Society's Cole Prize in Algebra.