It is with great sadness to announce the passing of Emeritus Professor Thomas M. Liggett last Tuesday, May 12, 2020.
After receiving his PhD from Stanford University in 1969, Tom began a long and distinguished career at UCLA. He became a full professor in the mathematics department in 1976, and served as Department Chair from 1991 to 1994.
Specializing in probability theory, Tom made numerous contributions to the field and is 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 influential.
Tom was an invited ICM speaker in 1986, and became member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2008 and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012. He retired in 2011, but was still active in the department until recently.
Tom is survived by his wife Christina, his two children Tim and Amy, and their families.
Click here to read Tom’s eulogy written by close friends and colleagues, Marek Biskup and Roberto Schonmann.
