Date: 03/13/2006

Contact: Nancy L. Stake at 408-924-1166

SAN JOSE, Calif., -- Daniel Goldston, San José State University professor of mathematics, is the recipient of the 2005-2006 President's Scholar Award, which recognizes his research in prime number theory. This award is one of the four highest faculty awards given by San José State University each academic year.

In announcing the award, President Don W. Kassing said, "Through stunning contributions and achievements in the area of number theory, Dr. Goldston has become known worldwide for his extraordinary accomplishments toward a proof of the twin-prime conjecture."

A prime number has just two factors, 1 and itself. Twin primes are two prime numbers that differ by 2, such as 11 and 13 or 29 and 31. The twin-prime conjecture is that there are an infinite number of twin primes.

Goldston has been studying twin primes and more generally the gaps between primes since he was a graduate student at Berkeley in the late 1970s. Last year, he, together with mathematicians Janos Pintz in Budapest and Cem Yildirim in Istanbul, were able to prove that there are always prime numbers which are much closer together than the average distance between consecutive primes.

Their work has been lauded in the mathematics world as a major step toward proving the centuries-old twin-prime conjecture.

Now in his 23rd year at San José State University, Goldston has received seven National Science Foundation grants and published 35 papers. He has presented his work at nearly 60 regional, national and international mathematics meetings over the past 25 years. Besides his research activities, Goldston is a favorite instructor and a committed mentor for students.

In addition, Goldston has spent sabbatical leaves at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and as a research professor at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley. He also spent a semester at the University of Toronto. Goldston has reviewed grant proposals for the National Science Foundation and the National Security Agency, and is a referee for numerous professional journals. He holds a doctorate in mathematics from UC Berkeley.