Michael H. Freedman has been recognized by the American Mathematical Society, the International Congress of Mathematicians, the United States Government, and the MacArthur Foundation for his research breakthroughs in topology, a branch of mathematics that deals with the invariant properties of geometric objects rather than their sizes and shapes. Freedman's work has been fundamental in making progress with some of the most difficult problems in four-dimensional geometry and topology. He is perhaps best known for his proof of the four-dimensional Poincaré conjecture, a problem dating from 1904.

Michael Hartley Freedman was born in Los Angeles on April 21, 1951, to Benedict Freedman and Nancy Mars Freedman. Freedman began his post-secondary education with a year at the Berkeley campus of the University of California in 1968. He then transferred to Princeton University, where he received his Ph.D. under William Browder four years later. While in college, he pursued his hobby of...