BSU math prof garners prize

Statesman staff

Edition Date: 05-02-2006

Boise State University mathematics professor Justin Moore is $25,000 richer after winning first prize in an international mathematics competition in Vienna, Austria.

Moore was named the top winner Friday by former world chess champion Garry Kasparov at a banquet at the famous Belvedere Palace in Vienna. He was among 10 finalists from around the world who competed in a Young Scholar's Competition as part of a symposium to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the famed Austrian mathematician Kurt Goedel.

"I was surprised to win, although I was also hopeful," said Moore, who arrived in Vienna on a flight from Boise only a few hours before the math competition began last Thursday. The competition consisted of each contestant giving a 10-minute presentation to a panel of international judges on a research proposal that related to Goedel's landmark contributions.

Moore said he will save the 20,000 euro prize - about $25,000 at current exchange rates - while he and his wife spend some time considering how to best use or invest the sum.

Two runners-up were also named by judges in the competition, and each received 5,000 euros, or about $6,200.

"We're all extremely proud of Justin. He's an outstanding mathematician and our students are fortunate to have him in the department," said Alan Hausrath, chair of the Department of Mathematics at Boise State.

The Vienna competition was part of the "Horizons of Truth Goedel Centenary 2006," a four-day symposium attended by mathematicians from around the world.

One of Goedel's best-known works deals with the notion that not all truths, even in mathematics, are provable.

Moore joined Boise State's faculty in 2001. He has a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Toronto.