The Departments of Mathematics and Economics, in conjunction with the Distinguished Visitors' Office of Haverford College, present:

The published works of John Forbes Nash, Jr. are only 15 in number: five in game theory and ten in pure mathematics, the latter centered on imbedding problems and partial differential equations. A widely held opinion among mathematicians is that the papers in game theory, which won him a Nobel Prize in Economics, are trivial and hence inferior to the papers in pure mathematics. On the other hand, mathematical economists, who have given the Nash equilibrium a central role in economic theory, know little or nothing of Nash's other work. The object of this lecture is to bridge this gap by giving a balanced appraisal of both halves of the work of this most original mathematical mind.

A legend by age thirty, recognized as a mathematical genius even as he slipped into madness, John Nash emerged after decades of ghostlike existence to win a Nobel and worldwide acclaim. Journalist Sylvia Nasar will tell the dramatic story of the West Virginia native whose 1950 doctoral dissertation at Princeton on game theory became a cornerstone of modern economics and whose ultimate triumph over schizophrenia has made him a symbol of hope around the world.

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