PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Björn Sandstede, chair of Brown’s Division of Applied Mathematics, has been honored with the Elsevier Jack K. Hale Award in Dynamical Systems and Differential Equations. The biennial award, which was given for the first time this year, honors the long-time editor-in-chief of the Journal of Differential Equations.

Sandstede was recognized for his work using differential equations to understand the stability of traveling waves. “Prof. Sandstede's analysis is novel, technically sophisticated, and inspired by dynamical systems ideas,” the award committee wrote. “In addition, he has successfully mentored several graduate students and postdocs, in the best tradition of J. Hale.”

Sandstede received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Stuttgart in 1993. After holding postdoctoral positions at the Weierstrass Institute and at Brown University, he joined the faculty at the Ohio State University in 1997, before moving to the University of Surrey in 2004. In 2008, Sandstede became a faculty member at Brown University, where he currently chairs the Division of Applied Mathematics and as serves as associate director of Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM).

"I am honored and very humbled to be chosen as the first recipient of the Elsevier Jack K. Hale Award,” Sandstede said. “Jack has always been a tremendous inspiration and a role model for me.”