The Simons Foundation has named Fordham University professor Anantharam Raghuram as a 2026 Simons Fellow in Mathematics, providing the scholar with critical support to extend his research into a full academic year.
Raghuram, who serves as the associate chair and professor of mathematics at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus, is one of 50 mathematicians selected globally for the honor.
The fellowship is specifically designed to increase research productivity by funding the transition from a single-term university sabbatical to a year of uninterrupted study.
Raghuram’s project, “Automorphic Cohomology and L-functions,” delves into the Langlands program, a vast web of conjectures that link number theory and geometry. His work focuses on the special values of L-functions, highly specialized mathematical objects that sit at the intersection of algebra and analysis.
For Raghuram, the fellowship represents a continuation of a distinguished academic journey deeply rooted in India’s premier institutions. Born in 1971, he grew up in Bengaluru in a middle-class household where his father worked as a chemical engineer for India’s space research organization.
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Raghuram’s talent was evident early, in the 11th grade, he won the Karnataka State Mathematics Olympiad. He later earned his Bachelor of Technology in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur in 1992, where he was ranked second in the country on the competitive All India Joint Entrance Examination.
While he initially majored in computer science, a mentor at IIT Kanpur guided him toward the “beauty” of pure mathematics. He pursued his doctorate at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai, graduating in 2001 with the TAA-Harish-Chandra Memorial best thesis award.
Before joining Fordham in 2021, Raghuram held significant leadership roles in India, serving as the first chair of mathematics at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune from 2012 to 2021. He also presented and helped produce the documentary The Genius of Srinivasa Ramanujan to inspire students across India.
His contributions to the field have been recognized globally. He is an elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy, and previously received the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship.
The Simons grant now allows him to pursue international collaborations and tackle deep-seated mathematical questions without the constraints of a teaching schedule.