Mathematics professor named AMS Fellow
Matt Hedden, a professor in the Michigan State University Department of Mathematics, has been named a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) for 2026. He is among 40 mathematical scientists to be recognized as a part of the 2026 Class of AMS Fellows.
“I’m honored to have been selected as an AMS Fellow and to be included among so many mathematicians whose work I deeply admire,” Hedden said. “It’s especially meaningful as a recognition from the broader mathematical community — one that reflects not only my own efforts but also the collaborators, mentors and students who have shaped my work over the years.”
AMS Fellows are recognized by their peers for outstanding contributions to creating, explaining, advancing, communicating and applying mathematics.
"AMS Fellows are selected from a substantial pool of accomplished candidates,” AMS President Ravi Vakil said. “The Fellows' collective achievements highlight the many ways individuals devote themselves to our beautiful and essential subject. I am proud to work alongside them to support and advance our discipline."
Hedden, who earned his mathematics Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2005, joined the faculty at MSU in 2009. Most of his research focuses on low-dimensional topology, which studies properties of shapes that have up to four dimensions.
“Being part of the Department of Mathematics at Michigan State has deeply influenced my research and professional life,” Hedden said. “The department’s collaborative culture and strong graduate program have provided a steady stream of talented students and colleagues to work with. Over the past 16 years, this community has offered intellectual challenge and personal support — an environment where my research can thrive.”
Many of Hedden’s projects involve knot theory, which aims to describe and distinguish the ways that closed loops of string can be knotted and tangled in three-dimensional space. Hedden’s interest in knots lies in their role as building blocks for interesting three- and four-dimensional shapes called smooth manifolds. Recently, he has studied how knots interact with certain kinds of motion that can occur on three-dimensional spaces, called Anosov flows.
Hedden’s work develops new tools involving knot theory that can, for the first time, rule out the existence of Anosov flows on certain broad classes of shapes.
“Picture one of these flows as a special wind pattern: releasing tiny dust particles shows some lines of motion pulling the particles together while others push them apart,” he said. “A central question is: which three-dimensional shapes can support this kind of ‘wind’?”
Hedden is the 12th faculty member from MSU to be named an AMS Fellow.