Paul Erdős

Awards & Honours

Awards Won

Honours

Records

Paul Erdős's career is remarkable for its sheer volume and impact. With about 1,500 papers, he is one of history's most prolific mathematicians. His Erdős number concept became a global cultural touchstone, inspiring similar metrics in other fields. He was a member of several prestigious academies, including the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. His work laid foundations for modern combinatorics and graph theory.

AwardsErdős won the AMS Cole Prize in 1951 and the Wolf Prize in Mathematics in 1983/84. These are among the highest honors in mathematics, recognizing his profound contributions to number theory, combinatorics, and related fields.

Honours & Distinctions

Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Hungarian Academy of Sciences·1956

Elected as a member.

Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences

U.S. National Academy of Sciences·1979

Elected as a foreign associate.

Honorary Doctorate

University of Cambridge·1991

Awarded honorary doctorate.

Records & Feats

Most co-authors in mathematics

Collaboration·1996

Erdős published with over 500 different co-authors, more than any other mathematician.

Highest Erdős number

Career Milestone·1960

Erdős himself has Erdős number 0, the lowest possible.