PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Ingrid C. Daubechies

Also known as Ingrid Daubechies

Ingrid Daubechies is a mathematician whose compactly supported wavelets support digital image compression and whose later mathematical work includes deep neural networks. She earned physics degrees in Brussels, joined AT&T Bell Laboratories, and became Princeton's first woman tenured professor of mathematics. At Duke, she served as the first woman president of the International Mathematical Union and received the 2023 Wolf Prize, the 2024 National Medal of Science, and the 2026 Erwin Schrödinger Institute Medal. She is a professor emerita of mathematics at Duke.

Timeline

  1. 1975–1980

    Physics degrees in Brussels

    She earns a bachelor's degree in physics at the Free University Brussels in 1975 and a doctorate in quantum physics at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 1980.

  2. 1987

    Compactly supported wavelets

    She joins AT&T Bell Laboratories as a Technical Staff Member in 1987 and develops compactly supported wavelets used in image compression, including JPEG 2000.

  3. 1993–1994

    Princeton and Ten Lectures

    She joins Princeton University's faculty in 1993 and becomes the first woman to hold a tenured professorship in mathematics. Her book, Ten Lectures on Wavelets, wins the American Mathematical Society's Steele Prize for Mathematical Exposition in 1994.

  4. 2011–2014

    Duke and IMU leadership

    At Duke, she is James B. Duke Professor of Mathematics and Electrical and Computer Engineering. She serves as the first female president of the International Mathematical Union from 2011 to 2014.

  5. 2023

    The Wolf Prize

    In 2023, she receives the Wolf Prize in Mathematics for her work in creating and developing wavelet theory and modern time-frequency analysis.

  6. 2024

    A National Medal of Science

    She receives the 2024 National Medal of Science for discoveries in wavelet development.

  7. 2026

    The Erwin Schrödinger Institute Medal

    In 2026, she is awarded the Erwin Schrödinger Institute Medal for mathematical information science, including her proof that deep neural networks outperform standard approximation methods and her image-processing tools for art restoration.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor emerita at Duke

    As of October 2026, she is James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emerita of Mathematics at Duke University.

  1. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  2. The United States employs an estimated 53% of people in our data with a known employment countryOur estimates of where AI careers are concentrated now and how countries’ shares of dated positions changed over time.
  3. 46% of living people in our data with known birth and employment countries work outside their birth countryOur estimate of cross-border careers in AI, from country of birth and the country of each current organization.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionOur estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.

Sources and credits

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  1. Ingrid Daubechies (1954 - ) - Biography - MacTutor History of Mathematics mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Ingrid Daubechies Awarded National Medal of Science | Duke Today today.duke.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Ingrid Daubechies is awarded an honorary degree by Harvard University math.duke.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. Math Professor Ingrid Daubechies Makes Waves with Research math.duke.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Wolf Prize for 2023 in Mathematics awarded to Ingrid Daubechies mathunion.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  6. Ingrid Daubechies | NSF - U.S. National Science Foundation nsf.gov. Checked 19 October 2026.
  7. Ingrid Daubechies awarded the 2026 Medal of the Erwin Schrödinger Institute for Mathematics and Physics math.duke.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  8. Ingrid Daubechies Named to Carnegie Foundation’s ‘Great Immigrants, Great Americans’ math.duke.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.