Ravi Vakil's homepage

I am a Professor of Mathematics and the Robert K. Packard University Fellow at Stanford University, and was the David Huntington Faculty Scholar. I have received the Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching, an American Mathematical Society Centennial Fellowship, a Frederick E. Terman fellowship, an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, a National Science Foundation CAREER grant, the presidential award PECASE, the Brown Faculty Fellowship. I have received the Coxeter-James Prize from the Canadian Mathematical Society, and André-Aisenstadt Prize from the CRM in Montréal. (This may give you a clue that I am Canadian.) I was the 2009 Earle Raymond Hedrick Lecturer at Mathfest, and I am the Mathematical Association of America's Pólya Lecturer 2012-2014. The article based on this lecture has won the Lester R. Ford Award in 2012 and the Chauvenet Prize in 2014. In 2013, I was a Simons Fellow in Mathematics.

• Some publications and preprints.
• Teaching: In winter 2017, I am teaching Undergraduate algebraic geometry (Math 145), and Topics in algebraic geometry (Math 245, on the subject of stacks).
  • In fall 2017, I helped Soundararajan run the Polya Seminar. In 2015-2016, I am teaching the three-quarter graduate sequence on Foundations of Algebraic Geometry (Math 216). In fall 2015, I am running the Polya problem-solving seminar with Prof. Soundararajan.
  • In winter 2015, I taught Undergraduate Algebraic Geometry (Math 145) and Equivariant Algebraic Geometry (Math 245).
  • In fall 2014, I taught Math 120 (Groups and rings; basically, the first honors course in algebra) and Math 210A (Graduate modern algebra). I also helped Kannan Soundararajan "teach" the weekly Pólya problem-solving seminars for talented undergraduates, as well as a Masterclass for experts --- More information here soon! (The next few jots will eventually be moved to my page of older teaching links.)
  • In fall 2013, I was on sabbatical, as a Simons Fellow in Mathematics. In winter and spring 2014, I taught the second and third (of three) quarters of Math 216 (Foundations of Algebraic Geometry); Zhiyuan Li will teach the first quarter. By the end of the year, I want to finalize the notes.
  • In fall 2012, I taught an experimental new course called Education as Self-Fashioning: Rigorous and Precise Thinking.
  • The year before, I taught a year-long course: Math 216: Foundations of Algebraic Geometry. The notes are here.
  • In winter 2011, I taught Math 245 (intersection theory). In fall 2010, I taught Math 120 (Modern Algebra), and Math 210A --- the first quarter of graduate algebra. Here are the solutions to the topsy turvy puzzle due to inventive students in the 120 class.
  • From 2001 until 2007, I coordinated the William Lowell Putnam competition at Stanford, and in conjunction with that I ran a weekly Pólya problem-solving seminar for talented undergraduates, as well as a Masterclass for experts --- more information here. The Pólya seminar was thereafter led by Kannan Soundararajan (with a year's exception when it was run by Matt Kahle); click here for more information.
  • Here are some (other) older teaching links.
• I serve on the editorial boards of Advances in Mathematics, Algebra and Number Theory, Journal of Pure and Applied Algebra, Gokova Geometry and Topology Journal, and Involve (a research journal for students). I used to serve on the board of the Mathematical Intelligencer. I serve on the International Mathematical Union's Committee on Electronic Information and Communication.

• The Department of Mathematics, including directions. Handmade map to my office. (Searchable and printable campus maps. The first link shows the math department.)
• Along with Brian Conrad and David Hoffman, I've helped organized some public lectures at Stanford.

• Algebraic geometry at Stanford; how to join our mailing list.
• I co-organize the Stanford algebraic geometry seminar.
• Conferences in algebraic geometry.
• The Western Algebraic Geometry Symposium (WAGS).
• If you are thinking of doing your Ph.D. with me, read this.
• Some computer programs of interest to algebraic geometers. Also, Frank Sottile has created some animations illustrating some of the ideas behind the geometric Littlewood-Richardson rule (see #15, #17, and #27 here). Click on the picture on the right to see them.

For students

• I am the faculty advisor for the Stanford Math Circle (for high school students). Ted Alper is the director. For more information, or to sign up, click here. I serve on the advisory committee of the National Association of Math Circles.
• For high school students: the Stanford Math Circle (see above), the Stanford University Math Camp, the Berkeley Math Circle, the Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY), and other summer programs outside the Bay Area.
• Research Experiences for Undergraduates and other information for talented undergrads.
• The canonical mathematical competitions page, by Kiran Kedlaya.
• Letters of recommendation (not just for students).
• The page above for people thinking of doing a Ph.D. with me (listed above) contains a number of things that might be helpful for graduate students in general, such as, for example, the "three things" exercise.

• mathoverflow.net. (You can read about the site here.) I am a supporter of this site.
• Great writing in mathematics.
• Mathematical riddles: figure out the meanings of the following statements. (i) (ii) The number of finite sets is e. (If you can answer this, you may want to figure out the number of abelian p-groups. Terry Tao gives the answer on his blog.)

Department of Mathematics, Stanford University, Stanford CA USA 94305
phone: 650-725-6284 fax: 650-725-4066 E-mail: vakil@math.you-know-where.edu