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David Gabai

b. 1954

American mathematician

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About David Gabai

Born 1954. David Gabai is an American mathematician, topologist and university teacher, known for Low-dimensional topology.

David Gabai is an American mathematician and the Hughes-Rogers Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University. His research focuses on low-dimensional topology and hyperbolic geometry.

Biography

David Gabai received his B.S. in mathematics from MIT in 1976 and his Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton University in 1980. Gabai completed his doctoral dissertation, titled "Foliations and genera of links", under the supervision of William Thurston.

After positions at Harvard and University of Pennsylvania, Gabai spent most of the period of 1986–2001 at Caltech, and has been at Princeton since 2001. Gabai was the Chair of the Department of Mathematics at Princeton University from 2012 to 2019.

Honours and awards

In 2004, David Gabai was awarded the Oswald Veblen Prize in Geometry, given every three years by the American Mathematical Society.

He was an invited speaker in the International Congress of Mathematicians 2010, Hyderabad on the topic of topology.

In 2011, he was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences. In 2012, he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.

Gabai was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2014.

Selected works Foliations and the topology of 3-manifolds; I: J. Differential Geom. 18 (1983), no. 3, 445–503; II: J. Differential Geom. 26 (1987), no. 3, 461–478; III: J. Differential Geom. 26 (1987), no. 3, 479–536. with U. Oertel: Essential laminations in 3-manifolds, Ann. of Math. (2) 130 (1989), no. 1, 41–73. Convergence groups are Fuchsian groups, Ann. of Math. (2) 136 (1992), no. 3, 447–510. with G. R. Meyerhoff, N. Thurston: Homotopy hyperbolic 3-manifolds are hyperbolic, Ann. of Math. (2) 157 (2003), no. 2, 335–431. with D. Calegari: Shrinkwrapping and the taming of hyperbolic 3-manifolds, J. Amer. Math. Soc. 19 (2006), no. 2, 385–446. with G. R. Meyerhoff, P. Milley: Minimum volume cusped hyperbolic three-manifolds, J. Amer. Math. Soc. 22 (2009), no. 4, 1157–1215.

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Known for
Low-dimensional topology
Education
Princeton University, Northeast High School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Caltech
Employers
Princeton University, California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania
Awards
Oswald Veblen Prize in Geometry; AMS Centennial Fellowship; Clay Research Award; Fellow of the American Mathematical Society

People in David Gabai's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped David Gabai's

Frequently asked questions

Who is David Gabai?

American mathematician

When was David Gabai born?

David Gabai was born on 7 July 1954 in Philadelphia.

What is David Gabai's occupation?

David Gabai is a mathematician, topologist and university teacher.

What is David Gabai known for?

David Gabai is known for Low-dimensional topology.

What nationality is David Gabai?

David Gabai is American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: David Gabai

· Wikidata: Q1174499

· DBpedia: David Gabai

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). David Gabai. https://biography.guide/david-gabai/

MLA: "David Gabai." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/david-gabai/.

Chicago: "David Gabai." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/david-gabai/.

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