Béla Szőkefalvi-Nagy Medal, year 2025
The Bolyai Institute of the University of Szeged is pleased to announce that
the Béla Szőkefalvi-Nagy Medal for the year 2025 has been awarded to
Chi-Kwong Li
Ferguson Professor of Mathematics, The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, USA.
Professor Li is a leading researcher in several areas of linear algebra and functional analysis, most notably matrix analysis, combinatorial matrix theory, and operator theory. He has also made significant contributions to quantum information theory.
According to MathSciNet, Professor Li has published over 360 research papers, which have been cited more than 4100 times (with Google Scholar listing nearly 9000 citations). In theoretical mathematics, such numbers represent exceptional scientific recognition. His fifteen most highly cited papers (each with between 50 and 200 citations, according to MathSciNet) cover diverse topics, including numerical ranges, preserver problems, multivariable means, Perron-Frobenius theory, and the Hermitian and skew-Hermitian splitting method.
The breadth and depth of Professor Li’s research, combined with his extensive service to the mathematical community and commitment to education, are truly outstanding. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong in 1986 and has since held academic positions in the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and South Korea. Since 2014, he has been an affiliate member of the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo.
Professor Li has served in numerous editorial roles, including Editorin-Chief of Linear and Multilinear Algebra, Founding Editor-in-Chief of Operators and Matrices, and currently Senior Editor of Linear Algebra and its Applications. Within the International Linear Algebra Society (ILAS), he served as Vice President (2007–2013) and is currently a member of the Board of Directors.
He has delivered countless colloquium and conference lectures and has organized numerous international conferences and workshops. His dedication to mentoring is equally remarkable-he has supervised four Ph.D. dissertations and approximately seventy undergraduate research projects.
Professor Li has received numerous honors, prizes, and awards throughout his distinguished career. Most recently, he received the Hans Schneider Prize, the highest honor awarded by the International Linear Algebra Society.
In the past five years, Professor Li has published four valuable original research papers in Acta Scientiarum Mathematicarum (Szeged), addressing topics such as numerical ranges, dilations, and unitarily invariant norms on operators.
The Béla Szőkefalvi-Nagy Medal was founded by Erzsébet Szőkefalvi-Nagy in memory of Béla Szőkefalvi-Nagy, who served as the Editor-in-Chief of Acta Scientiarum Mathematicarum from 1946 to 1981. The Medal, on which the engraving is made by the sculptor András Lapis, is awarded annually by the Bolyai Institute to honour a distinguished mathematician who has published significant, deep results in these Acta.
The official award ceremony will be held at 10:00 am on 27 March 2026 (Friday) in Bolyai Hall of the Bolyai Institute.
On this occasion Professor Chi-Kwong Li will deliver a lecture entitled
The Smith-Ward problem on matricial ranges and dilations.
