Felix Otto

Felix Otto (born 19 May 1966) is a German mathematician and professor.

Biography

Otto was born on 19 May 1966 in Munich, Bavaria. He studied mathematics at the University of Bonn, finishing his PhD thesis in 1993 under the supervision of Stephan Luckhaus. After postdoctoral studies at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University and at Carnegie Mellon University, in 1997 he became a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. From 1999 to 2010 he was a professor for applied mathematics at the University of Bonn, and he currently serves as one of the directors of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig.

Work Otto specialises in materials science, and he has worked on the theory of partial differential equations. He is especially known for his work on the Otto–Villani theorem and the invention of the Otto calculus.

Honours

In 2006, he was awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize by the German Research Foundation, which is the considered the most important research award in Germany.

In 2008, he became a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

In 2009, he was awarded a Gauss Lectureship by the German Mathematical Society.

In 2024, he was awarded the Cantor Medal by the German Mathematical Society.