William Vallance Douglas Hodge
| W. V. D. Hodge | |
|---|---|
| Born |
17 June 1903 Edinburgh, UK |
| Died | 7 July 1975 (aged 72) Cambridge, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Pembroke College, Cambridge |
| Education | George Watson's College |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Academic advisors | E. T. Whittaker |
| Doctoral students |
Michael Atiyah Samuel Lilley Ian R. Porteous David J. Simms |
| Known for |
Hodge conjecture Hodge dual Hodge bundle |
| Notable awards |
Adams Prize (1936) Senior Berwick Prize (1952) Royal Medal (1957) De Morgan Medal (1959) Copley Medal (1974) |
Sir William Vallance Douglas Hodge FRSFRSE (17 June 1903 – 7 July 1975) was a British mathematician, specifically a geometer.
His discovery of far-reaching topological relations between algebraic geometry and differential geometry—an area now called Hodge theory and pertaining more generally to Kähler manifolds—has been a major influence on subsequent work in geometry.
He was born in Edinburgh in 1903, the son of Archibald James Hodge, searcher of public records, and his wife, Jane Vallance. They lived at 1 Church Hill Place in the Morningside district.
He attended George Watson's College, and studied at Edinburgh University, graduating MA in 1923. With help from E. T. Whittaker, whose son J. M. Whittaker was a college friend, he then took the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos. At Cambridge he fell under the influence of the geometer H. F. Baker. He gained a second MA in 1925.
In 1926 he took up a teaching position at the University of Bristol, and began work on the interface between the Italian school of algebraic geometry, particularly problems posed by Francesco Severi, and the topological methods of Solomon Lefschetz. This made his reputation, but led to some initial scepticism on the part of Lefschetz. According to Atiyah's memoir, Lefschetz and Hodge in 1931 had a meeting in Max Newman's rooms in Cambridge, to try to resolve issues. In the end Lefschetz was convinced.
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