Named for the late Professor Alfred T. Brauer, a distinguished member of the Mathematics faculty, this annual departmental award is given to the undergraduate who is judged by the Mathematics Department to have demonstrated the greatest ability and shown the greatest promise for achievement in the fields of algebra or number theory.

Alfred Theodor Brauer, 1894–1985, had a profound impact on the Mathematics Department at UNC. Born in Germany, he studied at the University of Berlin and earned his degree in 1928 under Issai Schur. He continued lecturing there until 1936 when he was forced to resign by the Nazi government due to his Jewish heritage. In 1937 he declined Hermann Weyl’s invitation to come to the United States and, instead, gave the names of other he felt were in more immediate need of help. From 1936-1938, Brauer continued research while teaching junior-high level mathematics at a private school in Berlin until “Kristallnacht.”  He successfully fled the country in 1939, finally accepting Weyl’s invitation to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He came to North Carolina in 1942, teaching here until his retirement in 1966.

During this time at UNC, he founded the Mathematics and Physics Library, using his knowledge and expertise to establish a superb collection. In appreciation for this effort the library was named for him in 1976, later being absorbed into the UNC Libraries system. Alfred Brauer was honored by the University with the award of a Kenan professorship in 1959, the Tanner Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching in 1965, and an honorary doctor of legal letters degree in 1972. He has also received honors from outside the University, including the Oak Ridge Science Award and the G.W.F. Hegel Medal from the University of Berlin.

In 1975 an Alfred T. Brauer Instructorship was created at Wake Forest University, where he taught after his retirement from the University of North Carolina. The Alfred Brauer Fund was established by the Department of Mathematics in 1984 on the occasion of his ninetieth birthday. For more on Brauer’s biography, see the article “Alfred T. Brauer: Teacher, Mathematician and Developer of Libraries”.

Past Recipients