John von Neumann

John von Neumann (1903-57), Hungarian-American mathematician, who developed the branch of mathematics known as the game theory. He was born in Budapest, Hungary, and educated at Zürich, Switzerland, and at the universities of Berlin and Budapest. He went to the United States in 1930 to join the faculty of Princeton University. After 1933 he was associated with the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He became a U.S. citizen in 1937 and during World War II served as a consultant on the Los Alamos atomic-bomb project. In March 1955 he became a member of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

Von Neumann was one of the world's outstanding mathematicians. He is noted for his fundamental contributions to the theory of quantum mechanics, particularly the concept of “rings of operators” (now known as Neumann algebras), and also for his pioneering work in applied mathematics, mainly in statistics and numerical analysis. He is also known for the design of high-speed electronic computers. In 1956 the Atomic Energy Commission granted him the Enrico Fermi Award for outstanding contributions to the theory and design of electronic computers.