Background
Hochster, Melvin was born on August 2, 1943 in Brooklyn. Son of Lothar and Rose (Gruber) Hochster.
mathematician university professor
Hochster, Melvin was born on August 2, 1943 in Brooklyn. Son of Lothar and Rose (Gruber) Hochster.
Hochster attended Stuyvesant High School, where he was captain of the Math Team, and received a B.A. from Harvard University. He earned his Ph.D. in 1967 from Princeton University, where he wrote a dissertation under Goro Shimura characterizing the prime spectra of commutative rings.
He is currently the Jack E. McLaughlin Distinguished University Professor of Mathematics at the University of Michigan. While at Harvard, he was a Putnam Fellow in 1960. He held positions at the University of Minnesota and Purdue University before joining the faculty at Michigan in 1977.
In 2008, on the occasion of his 65th birthday, he was honored with a conference in Ann Arbor and with a special volume of the Michigan Mathematical Journal. Hochster's work is primarily in commutative algebra, especially the study of modules over local rings. He has established classic theorems concerning Cohen-Macaulay rings, invariant theory and homological algebra.
For example, the Hochster-Roberts theorem states that the invariant ring of a linearly reductive group acting on a regular ring is Cohen-Macaulay. His best-known work is on the homological conjectures, many of which he established for local rings containing a field, thanks to his proof of the existence of big Cohen-Macaulay modules and his technique of reduction to prime characteristic. His most recent work on tight closure, introduced in 1986 with Craig Huneke, has found unexpected applications throughout commutative algebra and algebraic geometry.
Hochster has been recognized for his efforts in mentoring and popularizing mathematics through lectures and articles. He has had more than 30 doctoral students, and the Association for Women in Mathematics has pointed out his outstanding role in mentoring women students pursuing a career in mathematics. He is currently (since 2009) serving as the chair of the department of Mathematics at the University of Michigan.
Hochster's hobbies are cryptic crosswords and contract bridge.
Fellow American Academy Arts and Sciences. Member American Mathematics Society (Frank Nelson Cole prize 1980), Mathematics Association American, National Academy Science.
Married Anita Klitzner, August 29, 1965 (divorced February 1983). 1 child, Michael Adam. Married Margie Ruth Morris, December 20, 1987.
Children: Hallie Margaret Hochster Morris, Sophie Elinor Hochster Morris, Louis Jacob, Daniel Craig Morris.