John F. Nash Jr. - Facts from NobelPrize.org

Overview

• Full Name: John F. Nash Jr.
• Award: The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1994
• Fields: Mathematics, Economic Sciences
• Prize Motivation: For pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games
• Prize Share: 1/3

Personal Life

• Born: June 13, 1928, in Bluefield, WV, USA
• Died: May 23, 2015, in New Jersey, NJ, USA
• Affiliation at Award Time: Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
• Education: Attended Carnegie Institute of Technology and Princeton University
• Family: Had two children, passed away in a car accident with his wife in 2015

Career and Achievements

• Academic Positions: Worked at MIT in the mathematics faculty
• Major Contributions:
  • Developed the Nash equilibrium theory
  • Distinction between cooperative and non-cooperative games
  • Contributions to the Nash embedding theorem in mathematics
• Health: Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 1959, spoke openly about mental illness

Unique Honors

• Only person awarded both the Economic Sciences Prize and the Abel Prize

Nobel Prize Context

• Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences: Awarded for achievements that have significantly benefited humankind
• Other 1994 Laureates:
  • John C. Harsanyi
  • Reinhard Selten

Additional Resources

• Biographical information, interviews, and seminars related to Nash are available through the Nobel Prize website.
• Various outreach and educational resources related to Nash’s work and the Nobel Prize can be explored online.

Miscellaneous

• Image: Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive

This summary emphasizes Nash's contributions to game theory and mathematics, providing a brief overview of his life, career, and honors.