Robert Aumann

Robert John Aumann (born June 8, 1930) is an Israeli-American mathematician whose foundational work in game theory has advanced the understanding of strategic decision-making in interdependent situations. He shared the 2005 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Thomas Schelling "for having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis." Aumann is professor emeritus of mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a co-founder of its Center for the Study of Rationality, where he has emphasized rigorous mathematical modeling of rational behavior.

Born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, to an Orthodox Jewish family, Aumann fled Nazi persecution with his family in 1938, settling in the United States. He earned a B.S. in mathematics from the City College of New York in 1950 and a Ph.D. from MIT in 1955, with his dissertation on knot theory. Relocating to Israel in 1956, he joined the Hebrew University faculty, contributing to mathematics and later economics through interdisciplinary applications of game theory.

Robert Aumann was born on June 8, 1930, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, to an orthodox Jewish family. His father worked as a wholesale textile merchant, providing the family with financial comfort though not great wealth.

Upon arrival, Aumann briefly attended public school before transferring to the Yeshiva of Flatbush, a private Jewish high school in Brooklyn, where he maintained strong academic performance, particularly in mathematics, winning a city-wide New York mathematics contest during his studies there.

Robert Aumann was born in June 1930 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, to an Orthodox Jewish family headed by a wholesale textile merchant father who ensured financial stability. Fleeing Nazi persecution, the family emigrated to the United States in 1938, settling in New York City where Aumann attended public schools.