Rate My Professor Craig Tracy

Tracy's research focused on statistical physics, integrable systems, and probability theory, resulting in over 100 publications and continuous NSF support from 1980 to 2023. Notable early work with Barry M. McCoy includes spin-spin correlation functions for the two-dimensional Ising model (Phys. Rev. B 13, 1976). His collaboration with Harold Widom advanced random matrix theory, introducing the Tracy-Widom distribution through papers such as "Level-spacing distributions and the Airy kernel" (Commun. Math. Phys. 159, 1994; 2485 citations), "Fredholm determinants, differential equations and matrix models" (Commun. Math. Phys. 163, 1994), and "On orthogonal and symplectic matrix ensembles" (Commun. Math. Phys. 177, 1996). These contributions, with applications from neutron scattering to Riemann zeta zeros, transformed the field. Tracy received the SIAM George Pólya Prize (2002, with Widom), Norbert Wiener Prize in Applied Mathematics (2007, with Widom), and AMS Leroy P. Steele Prize for Seminal Contribution to Research (2020, with Widom). He was elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2006), SIAM (2011), and AMS (2013). Editorial roles included Associate Editor for The Annals of Probability (2006–2011), The Annals of Statistics (2007–2015), and Journal of Statistical Physics (2011–2018).