Steven Johnson
Research
Waves, PDEs, Scientific Computing
Bio
Steven G. Johnson received his Ph.D. in physics from MIT in 2001, where he was also an undergraduate student (receiving B.S. degrees in physics, mathematics, and EECS in 1995). He joined the MIT faculty in applied mathematics in 2004, and was awarded tenure in 2011. He works on the influence of complex geometries (particularly in the nanoscale) on the solutions of partial differential equations, especially for wave phenomena and electromagnetism. This includes analytical theory, numerics, and design of devices and phenomena. He is also known for his work in high-performance computing, such as his development of the FFTW fast Fourier transform library (for which he received the 1999 J. H. Wilkinson Prize for Numerical Software). In 2009, he received the Edmund F. Kelly Research Award from the MIT Mathematics Department. In 2022, Johnson was recognized with the Teaching with Digital Technology Awards for his use of digital technology to enhance on-campus and remote teaching at MIT. He is co-chair of math undergraduate advising and co-chair of math UROPs (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program).