Vaughan Jones

Sir Vaughan Jones KNZM FRS FRSNZ FAA
Vaughan Jones in 2007
Born	Vaughan Frederick Randal Jones (1952-12-31) 31 December 1952 (age 64) Gisborne, New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealand, American
Fields	Mathematics
Institutions	University of California, Berkeley Vanderbilt University University of California, Los Angeles University of Pennsylvania
Alma mater	University of Geneva University of Auckland
Doctoral advisor	André Haefliger
Known for	Von Neumann algebras, knot polynomials, conformal field theory
Notable awards	Fields Medal (1990)

Sir Vaughan Frederick Randal Jones KNZM FRS FRSNZ FAA (born 31 December 1952) is a New Zealand and American mathematician, known for his work on von Neumann algebras and knot polynomials. He was awarded a Fields Medal in 1990, and famously wore a New Zealand rugby jersey when he gave his acceptance speech in Kyoto.

Vaughan Jones was born in Gisborne, New Zealand and brought up in Cambridge, New Zealand, completing secondary school at Auckland Grammar School. His undergraduate studies were at the University of Auckland, from where he obtained a BSc in 1972 and an MSc in 1973. For his graduate studies, he went to Switzerland, where he completed his PhD at the University of Geneva in 1979. His thesis, titled Actions of finite groups on the hyperfinite II₁ factor, was written under the supervision of André Haefliger. In 1980, he moved to the United States, where he taught at the University of California, Los Angeles (1980–1981) and the University of Pennsylvania (1981–1985), before being appointed as Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley.

His work on knot polynomials, with the discovery of what is now called the Jones polynomial, was from an unexpected direction with origins in the theory of von Neumann algebras, an area of analysis already much developed by Alain Connes. It led to the solution of a number of classical problems of knot theory, and to increased interest in low-dimensional topology.