Origins & Early Life

Robert John Aumann (Yisrael Aumann, Hebrew: ישראל אומן; born June 8, 1930) is an Israeli-American mathematician, and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. He is a professor at the Center for the Study of Rationality in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He also holds a visiting position at Stony Brook University, and is one of the founding members of the Stony Brook Center for Game Theory. Aumann received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2005 for his work on conflict and cooperation through game theory analysis.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

He shared the prize with Thomas Schelling. Aumann was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and fled to the United States with his family in 1938, two weeks before the Kristallnacht pogrom. He attended the Rabbi Jacob Joseph School, a yeshiva high school in New York City. Aumann graduated from the City College of New York in 1950 with a B.S. in mathematics.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

He received his M.S. in 1952, and his Ph.D. in Mathematics in 1955, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His doctoral dissertation, Asphericity of Alternating Linkages, concerned knot theory. His advisor was George Whitehead, Jr.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Alfred von Tirpitz — Contemporary (Died in 1930) (1930): Architect of the modern German battle fleet and naval expansionist.
• Alfred Wegener — Contemporary (Died in 1930) (1930): Pioneering geophysicist known for proposing the theory of continental drift.
• Ali al-Sistani — Contemporary (Born in 1930) (1930): Leading Twelver Shia Islamic scholar and Grand Ayatollah of Najaf, Iraq.
• Abraham Maslow — Shared historical date (06-08 · Died) (1970): Pioneering American psychologist known for the Hierarchy of Needs and self-actualization theory.
• Alice Rahon — Shared historical date (06-08 · Born) (1904): French-born Mexican poet and painter whose work bridged surrealism and abstraction.
• Allan Bloom — Historical peer (Born in 1930) (1930): American philosopher and classicist known for championing Great Books education.
• Anton Donchev — Historical peer (Born in 1930) (1930): Prominent Bulgarian author celebrated for historical novels and screenwriting.
• Ahmed Zaki (actor) — Historical peer (Died in 2005) (2005): Iconic Egyptian actor celebrated for intense dramatic performances and masterful impersonation.
• Andrea Dworkin — Historical peer (Died in 2005) (2005): Radical feminist writer and activist known for analyzing pornography and patriarchal violence.
• Ahn Chang Ho — Historical peer (Died in 1938) (1938): Pioneering Korean independence activist and leader of the Korean-American community.
• 1930 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1930
• June 8 (06-08) On This Day — Historical birthdays and events on June 8