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Famous Mathematicians from the United States

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Updated June 14, 2019 25.1k views 912 items

List of notable or famous mathematicians from the United States, with bios and photos, including the top mathematicians born in the United States and even some popular mathematicians who immigrated to the United States. If you're trying to find out the names of famous American mathematicians then this list is the perfect resource for you. These mathematicians are among the most prominent in their field, and information about each well-known mathematician from the United States is included when available.

The list you're viewing has a variety of people, like Albert Einstein and Benjamin Banneker, in it.

This historic mathematicians from the United States list can help answer the questions "Who are some American mathematicians of note?" and "Who are the most famous mathematicians from the United States?" These prominent mathematicians of the United States may or may not be currently alive, but what they all have in common is that they're all respected American mathematicians.

Use this list of renowned American mathematicians to discover some new mathematicians that you aren't familiar with. Don't forget to share this list by clicking one of the social media icons at the top or bottom of the page. (912 items)
1
Albert Einstein is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Dec. at 76 (1879-1955)

Birthplace: Ulm, Germany

Albert Einstein ( EYEN-styne; German: [ˈalbɛɐ̯t ˈʔaɪnʃtaɪn] (listen); 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity, one of the ...more

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2
Grace Hopper is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Dec. at 86 (1906-1992)

Birthplace: New York City, New York

Grace Brewster Murray Hopper (née Murray December 9, 1906 – January 1, 1992) was an American computer scientist and United States Navy rear admiral. One of the first programmers of the ...more
3
Ted Kaczynski is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Age: 76

Birthplace: Evergreen Park, Illinois, United States of America

Theodore John Kaczynski (; born May 22, 1942), also known as the Unabomber (), is an American domestic terrorist, former mathematics professor, and anarchist author. He was a mathematics ...more

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4
Tom Lehrer is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Age: 90

Birthplace: New York City, New York, United States of America

Thomas Andrew Lehrer (; born April 9, 1928) is a retired American musician, singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater. He is best known ...more

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5
Kurt Gödel is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Kurt Gödel Dec. at 72 (1906-1978)

Birthplace: Brno, Jihovýchod, Czech Republic

Kurt Friedrich Gödel (; German: [ˈkʊɐ̯t ˈɡøːdl̩] (listen); April 28, 1906 – January 14, 1978) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Austrian, and later American, logician, mathematician, and ...more
6
Donald Knuth is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Donald Knuth Age: 81

Birthplace: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Donald Ervin Knuth ( kə-NOOTH; born January 10, 1938) is an American computer scientist, mathematician, and professor emeritus at Stanford University. He is the 1974 recipient of the ACM Turing ...more
7
Charles Proteus Steinmet... is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Dec. at 58 (1865-1923)

Birthplace: Europe, Poland, Wrocław, Central Europe, Silesia, + more

Charles Proteus Steinmetz (born Karl August Rudolph Steinmetz, April 9, 1865 – October 26, 1923) was a German-born American mathematician and electrical engineer and professor at Union College. ...more
8
Benoit Mandelbrot is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Dec. at 86 (1924-2010)

Birthplace: Warsaw, Second Polish Republic

Benoit B.  Mandelbrot  (20 November 1924 – 14 October 2010) was a Polish-born, French and American mathematician and polymath with broad interests in the practical sciences, especially regarding ...more
9
John Forbes Nash, Jr. is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Age: 90

Birthplace: Bluefield, West Virginia

John Forbes Nash Jr. (June 13, 1928 – May 23, 2015) was an American mathematician who made fundamental contributions to game theory, differential geometry, and the study of partial differential ...more
10
Edward Witten is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Age: 67

Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland

Edward Witten (born August 26, 1951) is an American theoretical physicist and professor of mathematical physics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Witten is a ...more
11
David Rittenhouse is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Dec. at 64 (1732-1796)

Birthplace: Paper Mill Run, Pennsylvania

David Rittenhouse (April 8, 1732 – June 26, 1796) was an American astronomer, inventor, clockmaker, mathematician, surveyor, scientific instrument craftsman, and public official. Rittenhouse was ...more
12
James Harris Simons is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Age: 81

Birthplace: Newton, Massachusetts

James Harris Simons (; born April 25, 1938) is an American mathematician, billionaire hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He is known as a quantitative investor and in 1982 founded ...more
13
John Backus is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Dec. at 83 (1924-2007)

Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

John Warner Backus (December 3, 1924 – March 17, 2007) was an American computer scientist. He directed the team that invented and implemented FORTRAN, the first widely used high-level ...more
14
Robert Andrews Millikan ... is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Dec. at 85 (1868-1953)

Birthplace: Morrison, Illinois

Robert Andrews Millikan (March 22, 1868 – December 19, 1953) was an American experimental physicist honored with the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1923 for the measurement of the elementary ...more
15
Hilary Putnam is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Age: 92

Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois

Hilary Whitehall Putnam (; July 31, 1926 – March 13, 2016) was an American philosopher, mathematician, and computer scientist, and a major figure in analytic philosophy in the second half of the ...more
16
Benjamin Banneker is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Dec. at 75 (1731-1806)

Birthplace: Maryland

Benjamin Banneker (November 9, 1731 – October 9, 1806) was a free African-American almanac author, surveyor, naturalist, and farmer. Born in Baltimore County, Maryland, to a free ...more
17
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekh... is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Dec. at 85 (1910-1995)

Birthplace: Lahore, Pakistan

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar ; 19 October 1910 – 21 August 1995) was an Indian American astrophysicist who spent his professional life in the United States. He was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize for ...more
18
Francis Robbins Upton is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Dec. at 69 (1852-1921)

Birthplace: Peabody, Massachusetts

Francis Robbins Upton (1852 in Peabody, Massachusetts – March 10, 1921 in Orange, New Jersey) was an American physicist and mathematician. Upton worked alongside Thomas Edison in the development ...more
19
Claude Shannon is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Dec. at 85 (1916-2001)

Birthplace: Petoskey, Michigan

Claude Elwood Shannon (April 30, 1916 – February 24, 2001) was an American mathematician, electrical engineer, and cryptographer known as "the father of information theory". Shannon is ...more
20
John von Neumann is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Dec. at 54 (1903-1957)

Birthplace: Budapest, Hungary

John von Neumann (; Hungarian: Neumann János Lajos, pronounced [ˈnɒjmɒn ˈjaːnoʃ ˈlɒjoʃ]; December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, computer ...more
21
Solomon Feferman is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Age: 90

Birthplace: New York City, New York

Solomon Feferman (December 13, 1928 – July 26, 2016) was an American philosopher and mathematician with works in mathematical logic.
22
Marjorie Lee Browne is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Dec. at 65 (1914-1979)

Birthplace: Memphis, Tennessee

Marjorie Lee Browne (September 9, 1914 – October 19, 1979) was a mathematics educator. She was one of the first African-American women to receive a Ph.D in mathematics.
23
Steve Baer is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Age: 81

Birthplace: Los Angeles, California

Steve Baer is an American inventor and solar and residential designer. Baer has served on the board of directors of the U.S. Section of the International Solar Energy Society, and on the board ...more
24
Stephen Wolfram is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Age: 59

Birthplace: London, United Kingdom

Stephen Wolfram (; born 29 August 1959) is a British-American computer scientist, physicist, and businessman. He is known for his work in computer science, mathematics, and in theoretical ...more
25
Martin Gardner is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list Famous Mathematicians from the United States
Dec. at 96 (1914-2010)

Birthplace: Tulsa, Oklahoma

Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914 – May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer, with interests also encompassing scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, ...more