Peter D. Lax is one of the foremost pure and applied mathematicians of the
twentieth century. He was awarded the 2005 Abel prize "for his groundbreaking
contributions to the theory and application of partial differential equations
and to the computation of their solutions."  After fleeing Hungary for New York
City in 1941, Prof. Lax graduated from Stuyvesant High School. He was then
drafted and spent the war years in Los Alamos working on the Manhattan
Project. After the war he returned to New York University where he received a
PhD under the direction of Kurt Friedrichs. Prof. Lax spent essentially his
entire career at NYU.

In the 1950s and 60s Lax laid the foundations for the modern theory of both
linear and non-linear hyperbolic equations. He made fundamental contributions
to both the theoretical side of the subject, as well as the numerical
side. Indeed, the Lax Equivalence Theorem is one of the cornerstones of the
theory of the numerical solution of partial differential equations. Along with
Ralph Phillips, Lax introduced a new, geometrically inspired approach, to
scattering theory, which proved enormously influential in the subsequent
dvelopment of the subject. Lax introduced the "Lax pair" formulation for
completely integrable systems, which has in many ways become the definitive
description for this subject. To quote from his Able prize citation: "Peter
D. Lax stands out in joining together pure and applied mathematics, combining a
deep understanding of analysis with an extraordinary capacity to find unifying
concepts. He has had a profound influence, not only by his research, but also
by his writing, his lifelong commitment to education and his generosity to
younger mathematicians."

Prof. Lax is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, The American Academy
of Arts and Sciences, American Philosophical Society, Foreign Associate of the
French Academy of Sciences, Soviet Academy of Sciences, Hungarian Academy of
Sciences, Academia Sinica, Beijing. He is the recipient of many prizes and
awards including the Norbert Wiener Prize, the National Medal of Science, the
Wolf Prize, the Steele Prize, and nine honorary doctorates.