Ruth F. Curtain of the University of Groningen in The Netherlands is the 2012 recipient of the W. T. and Idalia Reid Prize.
First awarded by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) in 1994, the prize recognizes outstanding work in, or other contributions to, the broadly defined areas of differential equations and control theory. The prize, endowed by the late Mrs. Idalia Reid to honor her husband, has been awarded annually since 2000, and may be given either for a single notable achievement or a collection of such achievements.
Professor Curtain is being recognized for her fundamental contributions to the theory of infinite dimensional systems and the control of systems governed by partial and delay differential equations. Dr. Curtain accepted her award of $10,000 and an engraved medal from SIAM President Nick Trefethen at the Prizes and Awards Luncheon and presented the associated prize lecture, entitled, Algebraic Properties of Riccati Equations, at the SIAM Annual Meeting held July 9-13 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
A professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Groningen, Curtain's research interests are in infinite dimensional systems theory, control theory, and reciprocal systems.
After completing her early academic education at the University of Melbourne, Australia, earning her BSc, Diploma of Education, and MA in mathematics, Dr. Curtain went on to receive a PhD in applied mathematics at Brown University. She joined the mathematics section of the University of Groningen over three decades ago. She was elected a Fellow in IEEE for contributions to the control theory of stochastic systems and infinite-dimensional systems. She has served on the committee responsible for mathematics, computing science, and astronomy of the Dutch Science Research Council.
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