James Arthur is regularly cited as perhaps the best and most immediately influential mathematician currently active in Canada. His work stands at the forefront of a bold initiative to unify the diverse branches of pure mathematics.
Through more than three decades as a mathematician, Arthur charted a course for himself with way stations spanning the globe. He has been an instructor at Princeton University, an assistant professor at Yale University and a professor at Duke University. And he has collaborated and lectured at venues such as Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study and the International Congress of Mathematicians at Warsaw, Poland.
Arthur has been a faculty member of the University of Toronto's Department of Mathematics since 1978. After just four years there, he won a prestigious Steacie Fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. Five years later, he was presented with the John L. Synge Award by the Royal Society of Canada.
Some observers argue that the results of research conducted by Arthur will reveal absolute ordering principles within mathematics, as well as the basis for a new understanding of natural phenomena.