Hillel (Harry) Furstenberg is an Israeli mathematician. He is known for his application of probability theory and ergodic theory methods, to other areas including number theory and Lie groups. In 1977, he gave an ergodic theory reformulation, and subsequently proof, of Szemerédi's theorem. He gained attention at an early stage in his career for producing an innovative topological proof of the infinitude of prime numbers. He was born in Berlin, in 1935, and soon emigrated to the US. In the Yeshiva University he concluded his BA and MSc studies in 1955. He obtained his Ph. D. under Salomon Bochner at Princeton University in 1958. After several years at the University of Minnesota he became a Professor of Mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1965. He is a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and U.S. National Academy of Sciences. He received the Harvey Prize from Technion (1993) and the Wolf Prize in Mathematics[1] (2006/07).
