Constantine Dafermos

Who is Constantine Dafermos?

Constantine Michael Dafermos is a Greek applied mathematician. He received a Diploma in Civil Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens and a Ph.D. in Mechanics from Johns Hopkins University under the direction of Jerald Ericksen. He has been an Assistant Professor at Cornell University and an Associate Professor and Professor in the Division of Applied Mathematics at Brown University. Since 1984, he has been the Alumni-Alumnae University Professor at Brown.

In recent years, his research has focused on nonlinear hyperbolic systems of conservation laws whose solutions spontaneously develop singularities propagating as shock waves. In particular, he is studying the interplay between thermodynamics and analysis in the theory of these systems and he is analyzing the fundamental role of entropy as a stabilizing agent.

In 2012 he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.