Concept
Mark Stern is an American mathematician whose focus has been on geometric analysis, Yang–Mills theory, Hodge theory, and string theory. One of Stern's foremost accomplishments is his proof (joint with Leslie D. Saper) of the Zucker conjecture concerning locally symmetric spaces. Since about 2000, Stern has focused on geometric problems arising in physics, ranging from harmonic theory to string theory and supersymmetry. Stern has taught at Duke University since 1985, and was promoted to professor in 1992. He has been the mathematics department chairman but has focused primarily on research and teaching, with major grant support from the National Science Foundation. At Duke, he teaches such courses as multivariable calculus. Since 2010, Stern has spoken to advanced math audiences at the Newton Institute, CUNY Graduate Center, U.C. Irvine, Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland, and multiple academic groups. Prior to Duke, Stern was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, where he received his Ph.D. in 1985. His thesis advisor was S.T. Yau. Stern studied math at Texas A&M, where he received his B.S. degree in 1980, before moving to Princeton. Stern grew up in Dallas, where he graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas. Stern is a fellow of the American Mathematical Society and has won an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship and a Presidential Young Investigator Award. In 2014, Stern was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Former Students at Texas A&M.