Key Takeaways
- • Jim Simons, the mathematician who founded Renaissance Technologies in 1978 and pioneered quantitative trading, died on May 10, 2024, at age 86, according to the Simons Foundation.
- • Simons earned his doctorate in mathematics from UC Berkeley in 1961 and co-authored the 1974 Chern-Simons invariants paper with Shiing-Shen Chern, which later influenced quantum field theory and string theory.
- • Simons was dismissed from the Institute for Defense Analyses in 1968 over his public opposition to the Vietnam War, then became chair of Stony Brook's mathematics department.
- • Renaissance Technologies, which Simons led until retiring as CEO in 2010, hired mathematicians, physicists and computer scientists rather than traditional Wall Street professionals.
- • Simons and Marilyn Simons made a $500 million unrestricted gift to Stony Brook in 2023, the largest of its kind to an American university, and co-founded the Simons Foundation in 1994.
Summary
Jim Simons, born April 25, 1938, in Newton, Massachusetts, died May 10, 2024, at age 86 in New York City, according to the Simons Foundation's memorial material. He earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics from MIT in 1958 and a doctorate from UC Berkeley in 1961, with a thesis in differential geometry. After briefly teaching at MIT and Harvard, he worked as a code breaker for the National Security Agency while at the Institute for Defense Analyses in Princeton. He was dismissed in 1968 over his public opposition to the Vietnam War, after which he took over the mathematics department at Stony Brook University.
At Stony Brook, Simons collaborated with Shiing-Shen Chern. Their 1974 paper "Characteristic Forms and Geometric Invariants" introduced Chern-Simons invariants, which the foundation notes later played a role in quantum field theory, string theory and condensed matter physics. Simons received the American Mathematical Society's Oswald Veblen Prize in Geometry in 1976.
In 1978 Simons left academia to found Monometrics, renamed Renaissance Technologies in 1982, which applied mathematical modeling to trade stocks, commodities and currencies. The firm recruited scientists rather than typical Wall Street figures, a approach Simons described as the firm's "secret sauce." He retired as chief executive in 2010.
Simons and Marilyn Simons, who served as foundation president from its founding until July 2021, built the Simons Foundation, established in 1994, into a major funder of basic science. Its initiatives include the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, the Simons Collaborations, and the Flatiron Institute, founded in New York City in 2016. The couple also made a $500 million unrestricted gift to Stony Brook's endowment in 2023. Simons founded Math for America in 2004 to support STEM teachers in New York City.
At Stony Brook, Simons collaborated with Shiing-Shen Chern. Their 1974 paper "Characteristic Forms and Geometric Invariants" introduced Chern-Simons invariants, which the foundation notes later played a role in quantum field theory, string theory and condensed matter physics. Simons received the American Mathematical Society's Oswald Veblen Prize in Geometry in 1976.
In 1978 Simons left academia to found Monometrics, renamed Renaissance Technologies in 1982, which applied mathematical modeling to trade stocks, commodities and currencies. The firm recruited scientists rather than typical Wall Street figures, a approach Simons described as the firm's "secret sauce." He retired as chief executive in 2010.
Simons and Marilyn Simons, who served as foundation president from its founding until July 2021, built the Simons Foundation, established in 1994, into a major funder of basic science. Its initiatives include the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, the Simons Collaborations, and the Flatiron Institute, founded in New York City in 2016. The couple also made a $500 million unrestricted gift to Stony Brook's endowment in 2023. Simons founded Math for America in 2004 to support STEM teachers in New York City.
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