Vaughan Jones

Who is Vaughan Jones?

Sir Vaughan Frederick Randal Jones KNZM FRS FRSNZ FAA is a New Zealand mathematician, known mostly for his work on von Neumann algebras and knot polynomials. He was awarded a Fields Medal in 1990, and famously wore a New Zealand rugby jersey when he gave his acceptance speech in Kyoto. Jones is currently on the faculty of Vanderbilt University as a distinguished professor of mathematics. He previously served as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and a Distinguished Alumni Professor at the University of Auckland.

Jones was born in Gisborne, New Zealand and brought up in Cambridge, New Zealand, completing secondary school at Auckland Grammar School. His undergraduate studies were at the University of Auckland, from where he obtained a B.Sc. in 1972 and an M.Sc. in 1973. For his graduate studies, he went to Switzerland, where he completed his Ph.D. at the University of Geneva in 1979. His thesis, titled Actions of finite groups on the hyperfinite II₁ factor, was written under the supervision of André Haefliger. In 1980, he moved to the United States, where he taught at the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Pennsylvania, before being appointed as Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley.