Avi Wigderson
Israeli theorist who showed how randomness and computation relate
- Age
- 70 yrs
- Birthday in 308 days
- Works listed
- 2
- Paper, Book
- Honours
- 5
- Most recent 2023
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Avi Wigderson is an Israeli mathematician and computer scientist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton whose work showed that randomness in algorithms can often be removed. He is the only person to have won both the Abel Prize in mathematics (2021) and the Turing Award (2023).
Biography
Education
Wigderson studied computer science at the Technion and earned his PhD at Princeton in 1983. He taught at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem before joining the Institute for Advanced Study in 1999.
Randomness
With Noam Nisan and later Russell Impagliazzo, Wigderson showed that if certain problems are hard, every efficient randomised algorithm can be converted into a deterministic one. This deep link between hardness and randomness changed complexity theory.
Zero knowledge and more
With Oded Goldreich and Silvio Micali he proved that every problem in NP has a zero-knowledge proof, a cornerstone of cryptography. He also contributed to expander graphs, the zig-zag product and circuit complexity.
Recognition
He received the Nevanlinna Prize in 1994, the Gödel Prize in 2009, the Abel Prize in 2021 with László Lovász, and the Turing Award in 2023. His book Mathematics and Computation (2019) surveys the field.
Timeline
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1956
Born in Haifa, Israel
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1983
PhD from Princeton
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1986
Zero-knowledge for NP with Goldreich and Micali
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1994
Nevanlinna Prize
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1997
Hardness-versus-randomness with Impagliazzo
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1999
Joins the Institute for Advanced Study
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2021
Abel Prize
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2023
Turing Award
Notable works
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1986
Proofs that Yield Nothing But Their Validity Paper
With Goldreich and Micali.
-
2019
Mathematics and Computation Book
Awards and honours
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Nevanlinna Prize
1994
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Gödel Prize
2009
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Knuth Prize
2019
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Abel Prize
2021
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Turing Award
2023
Did you know?
-
1
He is the first person to win both the Abel Prize and the Turing Award.
-
2
He grew up in Haifa and studied at the Technion.
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3
His book Mathematics and Computation is available free online.
Connections
Frequently asked
Who is Avi Wigderson?
Avi Wigderson is an Israeli mathematician and computer scientist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton whose work showed that randomness in algorithms can often be removed. He is the only person to have won both the Abel Prize in mathematics (2021) and the Turing Award (2023).
How old is Avi Wigderson?
Avi Wigderson is 70 years old, born on 9 September 1956 in Haifa, Israel.
Where is Avi Wigderson from?
Avi Wigderson was born in Haifa, Israel.
What is Avi Wigderson known for?
Avi Wigderson is best known for Randomness and pseudorandomness; zero-knowledge proofs; Abel Prize 2021; Turing Award 2023.
What awards has Avi Wigderson received?
Notable honours include Nevanlinna Prize (1994), Gödel Prize (2009), Knuth Prize (2019), Abel Prize (2021).
References
- Avi Wigderson — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Official website. www.math.ias.edu. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Avi Wigderson (Q92957) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Avi Wigderson”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Avi Wigderson.” TrackFame, last updated 4 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/avi-wigderson
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