A proud supporter and distinguished member of the UCLA family, Christina Liggett has established a $500,000 endowment in honor of her late husband, Professor Emeritus Thomas M. Liggett, for his contributions in research, teaching, and service at UCLA. As a part of the Physical Sciences Matching Gift Fund program, the Dean of Physical Sciences will establish a matching fund of $250,000.
The Thomas and Christina Liggett Endowed Scholars Fund will allow the Department to institute a new series of teaching awards for postdocs (including CAM, PIC, and FAM) and teaching assistants. Every year, the Department will select 4–6 “Liggett Instructors” among postdocs and 4–6 “Liggett Teaching Fellows” among graduate students. The awards come with a cash prize of $1,000 for Liggett Instructors and $500 for Liggett Teaching Fellows.
Professor Liggett dedicated 51 years to the UCLA Department of Mathematics, after joining as an assistant professor in 1969. He contributed to numerous areas of probability theory and was best known for his pioneering work on interacting particle systems, including the contact process, the voter model, and the exclusion process. His two books in this field have been very influential. Professor Liggett was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2008, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012. He passed away in May, 2020.
