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Henry Laufer

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Henry B. Laufer
Laufer in 2024
Born (1945-08-13) 13 August 1945 (age 79)
Alma materPrinceton University (PhD)
Occupation(s)Hedge fund manager, investor, mathematician, philanthropist
TitleVice President & Chief Scientist (Renaissance Technologies)
SpouseMarsha Zlatin Laufer
Children3
Scientific career
Thesis Sheaf Cohomology and Envelopes of Holomorphy  (1965)
Doctoral advisorRobert Clifford Gunning
Doctoral studentsStephen Shing-Toung Yau

Henry B. Laufer (born 1945) is an American hedge fund manager, investor, mathematician, and philanthropist. He served as the Vice President of Research at Renaissance Technologies.

Early life

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Henry B. Laufer was born to a Jewish family in 1945.[1][2][3] He received his PhD from Princeton University in 1965, studying with Robert Gunning.

Career

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Laufer joined the mathematics department at the State University of New York at Stony Brook as a faculty member in 1971. His research focused on complex variables and algebraic topology. He left Stony Brook in 1992 to join Renaissance Technologies.[4] In 2015, a conference was held for his 70th anniversary at Tsinghua University in China.[1]

Laufer co-founded the Medallion Fund with Jim Simons in 1988.[5] Laufer served as chief scientist and vice president of research at Renaissance Technologies, its parent company.[6] He now serves on its board of directors.[6]

Laufer earned US$125,000,000 in 2008, during the financial crisis of 2007–2008.[7] The following year, in 2009, he was named one of "Wall Street's Highest Earners" by Forbes, with an income of US$390,000,000.[8]

Philanthropy and political contributions

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Laufer and his wife enabled the foundation of the Louis and Beatrice Laufer Center for Physical and Quantitative Biology at Stony Brook University with a donation in 2008.[9][10] The couple joined Jim and Marilyn Simons to endow the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, with an unrestricted $70 million gift in 2022. The school honored the donors by renaming the Institute to the Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute.[11][12]

Laufer donated US$500,000 to Correct the Record, a political action committee that supported Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, in February 2016.[13] Meanwhile, in April 2016, Laufer and his wife organized a US$500-ticket fundraiser for Clinton in Florida.[14][15] The couple also gave around $950,000 to Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.[16]

Personal life

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Laufer is married to Dr. Marsha Zlatin Laufer, a speech-language pathologist, philanthropist and political activist.[17][18] She served as the chairwoman of the Democratic Party for the town of Brookhaven, New York from 2001 to 2009.[19][20] The couple resides in Manalapan, Florida.[14] They have 3 children.

As of 2023, Laufer's net worth was estimated at $2.6 billion by Forbes.[21]

Selected bibliography

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  • Laufer, Henry B. (1971), Normal two-dimensional singularities, Annals of Mathematics Studies, 71, Princeton University Press
  • Laufer, Henry B. (1977), "On minimally elliptic singularities", American Journal of Mathematics, 99 (6): 1257–1295, doi:10.2307/2374025, ISSN 0002-9327, JSTOR 2374025
  • Laufer, Henry B. (1972), "On rational singularities", American Journal of Mathematics, 94 (2): 597–608, doi:10.2307/2374639, ISSN 0002-9327, JSTOR 2374639

References

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  1. ^ a b "International Conference on Singularity Theory -In Honor of Henry Laufer's 70th Birthday". Tsinghua Sanya International Mathematics Forum. Tsinghua University. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  2. ^ The Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County. "Annual Report 2013" (PDF).[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ Jewish Adoption and Family Care Options (JAFCO). "JAFCO Annual Report 2014" (PDF).
  4. ^ "Former Stony Brook University Faculty Members Drs. Henry and Marsha Laufer Announce $10 Million Gift To Capital Campaign". commcgi.cc.stonybrook.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-06-06. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  5. ^ Kouwe, Zachary (October 8, 2009). "Hedge Firm Says Chief Will Retire". The New York Times. Retrieved August 31, 2016. He opened Medallion in 1988 with Henry Laufer, a former Princeton mathematics professor who is still Renaissance's chief researcher. Mr. Simons's success has made him a billionaire several times over.
  6. ^ a b "Company Overview of Renaissance Technologies Corp.: Henry Laufer". Bloomberg. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  7. ^ Story, Louise (March 24, 2009). "Top Hedge Fund Managers Do Well in a Down Year". The New York Times. Retrieved August 31, 2016. While Mr. Simons of Renaissance Technologies landed the No. 1 spot, one of his partners, Henry B. Laufer, is also on the list with earnings of $125 million.
  8. ^ Schwartz, Peter J. (September 4, 2009). "Wall Street's Highest Earners". Forbes. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  9. ^ happenings press release
  10. ^ Laufer Center webpage
  11. ^ "Mathematical Sciences Research Institute receives $70 million gift". Philanthropy News Digest. Candid. May 23, 2022.
  12. ^ "Mathematical Sciences Research Institute Receives $70M Gift; Largest Unrestricted Endowed Gift to a U.S.-Based Mathematics Institute". Business Wire (Press release). May 19, 2022.
  13. ^ "Correct the Record: Contributors, 2016 cycle". OpenSecrets. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  14. ^ a b "Hillary Clinton attends fundraisers in South Florida". WPBF. April 12, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  15. ^ Bennett, George (April 12, 2016). "As Hillary Clinton raises money in Manalapan, Florida GOP video quotes Bernie Sanders". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  16. ^ Tindera, Michela (February 17, 2021). "Here Are The Billionaires Who Donated To Joe Biden's 2020 Presidential Campaign". Forbes.
  17. ^ "Dr. Marsha Laufer: The Human Connection". College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. University of Maryland. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  18. ^ Mayhew, Augustus (May 26, 2009). "Palm Beach Real Estate Roulette". New York Social Diary. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  19. ^ Toy, Vivian S. (November 27, 2005). "A Novice Revives Brookhaven's Democrats". The New York Times. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  20. ^ Brand, Rick (November 9, 2009). "Laufer, Brookhaven Democratic chief, stepping down". Newsday. Retrieved August 31, 2016. Marsha Laufer, who turned the Brookhaven Democratic Party from a perennial also-ran into a highly competitive force in the once Republican-dominated town, said last night that she is stepping down after seven years on the job.
  21. ^ "Henry Laufer". Forbes. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
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